


Red Line

by Etheriell



Series: Face to Face [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-04-14 17:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4574025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etheriell/pseuds/Etheriell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of loosely related one shots that form a sort of sequel to my previous story, albeit with much more fluff and humor than before! Also, a lot of money made for Weiss' repair company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oh no, not again

Weiss Schnee. CEO of Schnee Dust Company, world-renowned huntress, had made a terrible mistake. She was a member of the illustrious Team RWBY, comprised of herself, her sister's-in-law Yang Xiao Long (the current heavyweight champion of kickboxing as well as being a huntress), Blake Belladonna, master infiltrator and accomplished Faunus Rights Activist, and her wife, the legendary Ruby Rose, scythe and sniper master.

At the tender age of 25, she was one of the most influential people on Remnant, and the youngest CEO the SDC had ever had. She and her team had been instrumental in saving Vale from the dastardly plans of Cinder Fall. She had been part of the task force, comprised of team's RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY who had brought down the massive abomination known as the Hydra, a mutant King Tajitu with an uncountable number of heads. They had fought off Cerberus, a legendary three headed Beowulf six times the size of any other Beowulf. They had brought crashing down the Mountain of Beasts, a massive nest of Grimm that had been a huge breeding ground for the creatures. And even after all that, Weiss' greatest foe was not a Grimm, nor Faunus, nor Man. It was the scroll, sitting innocently on her desk, as she stared at it in consternation, wishing she did not have to pick it up.

Weiss' father had passed away shortly before her graduation from Beacon, and upon his death, majority control of the company fell into her lap. Her younger sister Winter had held the reigns for her until she graduated, but immediately she fell into the posturing necessary to be CEO. At 21 years of age, she instantly set about making sweeping changes to the company (mostly about the Faunus employed there), with Blake's absolute approval. Though she had many detractors on the board, none would dare speak up when faced with the fury of both Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. It had taken years, but she finally felt like the SDC had turned itself around, bringing Faunus and Human's closer together than ever before.

She still found time, somehow, to go on hunts with her team and her friends, mainly relying on her Assistant CEO, her little sister Winter who was happy to continue her plans even when she was out. But it had taken her only a few weeks after moving into the Schnee Estate to realize…it was too damned big! The entire estate was the size of a small village by itself, and even after moving Ruby in with her, and Winter living in the same building, it felt far too lonely. She struck upon the brilliant idea…why not invite her other teammates and friends to live with her? She was so used to dorm life at this point, it felt almost like old times. And she had assumed it would not be a big deal, half the time they were out on hunts or having fun…it would just be a nice place for her friends and family to live together in peace.

She was wrong. Oh sure, inviting teams JNPR, CFVY, and SSSN to join them had seemed fine at first. There was plenty of room, and all of them appreciated the fact that they did not have to worry about rent or food. The issue stemmed from the large amounts of energy that almost all of them possessed…Ruby was not the only weapons dork in the group. It turned out both Sage and Fox had some slight predilections towards explosive weaponry, and the three of them had already destroyed Ruby's workshop (and a multitude of other rooms) more than once.

Then you factored in Yang, Nora, and Sun, all of whom would be considered alcoholics if it weren't for their aura's preventing them from becoming addicted, spending half their downtime drinking, carousing, and generally causing mayhem.

Pyrrha and Yatsuhashi's sparring matches tended to level the nearby vegetation, having forced Weiss to build a sparring arena simply to contain those two. It didn't work very well. Coco was surprisingly non-destructive, mostly as she had lived a similar childhood as Weiss and was somewhat aware of how to behave. However, she doted on Velvet, and encouraged the shy rabbit faunus to happily explore her dust magic, which tended to end badly as Velvet was one who enjoyed experimentation with Dust. Velvet, being an extremely powerful dust mage, was quite capable of 'accidentally' leveling half of her estate. The forest behind her lawn had already been set on fire, frozen, electrocuted, and on one memorable occasion, been flooded.

The least destructive people who lived in Weiss' house were Blake, Scarlet, Jaune, and Neptune. However, all four of them tended to get tangled up in the messes their partners would drag them into, which lent to them generally being the ones to break the news to Weiss.

And that brought her back to her current predicament. Blake had just left her office, leaving Weiss' eye twitching for a moment, before she had glanced out her office balcony window to see that yes, Blake was telling the truth. Weiss stared down once more at her scroll, before sighing and hitting the speed-dial, knowing she was not going to enjoy explaining this to him.

One ring went by before it was picked up, a sighing man's voice coming across.

"Mrs. Schnee…to what do I owe the pleasure today?"

"Oh, don't start with the Mrs. Schnee thing, not today Sandy." The voice chuckled for a moment.

"Fine, Weiss. You called on the red line. I already have my people in position, but what is it we're repairing today?" Weiss sighed, placing her head in her carefully manicured hands, mumbling something Sandy clearly did not hear.

"Sorry, didn't get that, what was it?" Weiss removed her head from her hands and spoke in a deadpan tone.

"Do you know how to remove a volcano from a backyard?" Silence met her question, the seconds ticking on agonizingly as Weiss stared at her scroll, her cheeks slightly pinking in embarrassment as the silence continued. Finally, a cough sounded, before Sandy spoke, disbelief in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong. I could have sworn you said a volcano in your backyard, but that's purely impossible of course." Weiss didn't bother replying, waiting, before she heard the muffled cursing in the background. "By Dust how the hell did you get a volcano in your backyard?!"

"Yang."

"Yang is many things, but a magician is not-"

"Yang got Velvet drunk." The quality of silence coming from the other end of the line was quite indicative of how Sandy felt about that statement.

"…I take back my previous statement. All is explained. We'll be there in twenty." With a click, the call ended, leaving Weiss alone. She spun around in her seat, standing up and walking to her balcony, staring out the double glass balcony doors, eye twitching as she spied the massive mound of earth with bubbling, boiling magma stirring in the caldera as Yang casually sprinted across it, giggling to herself as she bounced off the dense surface of the magma, ignoring the heat entirely. Weiss sighed, closing her eyes tightly as she wondered how painful the bill for this was going to be. A loud explosion, followed by a series of shouted curses in the familiar tones of Ruby, Sage, and Fox came from far below Weiss' feet, shaking the foundation of the building. Weiss just sighed and spun back to her desk, lifting up her scroll to call Sandy back and inform him his work would be cut out for him this day.


	2. How Sandy Met Weiss

Sandy gulped slightly as he took in the imposing sight of the Schnee Estate, standing before the massive double doors leading into the foyer. Largest single estate in the entire world, ran by perhaps the most famous CEO the Schnee Dust Company had ever had, and here he was, ready to pitch his company as the exclusive choice for home repair of this massive edifice.

Sandy had worked his entire young life for a chance like this, building up a company that encompassed all aspects of home repair possible. He had hired on the best roofers, electricians, plumbers, etc, he could get his hands on. Building up a reputation for speed and efficiency, along with his brutal honesty and refusal to overcharge clients to keep 'competitive' had led to a sterling reputation as one of the best providers of home repair out there by the time he was twenty eight…which had apparently led to this meeting. He had received a personal phone call from none other than the Assistant CEO, Winter Schnee, requesting a meeting to discuss the possible hiring of his business. Sandy knew that this was a golden opportunity to catapult his company into a whole new world…anyone the SDC hired was instantly viewed as an excellent choice and often led to numerous new contracts. Sandy knew he could handle anything thrown at him…he even had hired Dust experts to deal with those oddball issues that came up in his line of work…now he just needed to prove it. A soft cough from the butler standing by the door shook him out of his musings, making him start for a moment before smiling sheepishly.

"I'm terribly sorry," he began, ready to continue apologizing, before the butler cut him off with a soft smile and a wave of his hand.

"Do not worry sir, it happens to everyone. Please, follow me, your appointment awaits." Sandy followed the man in, once again finding himself gaping at the massive foyer. He had expected it to be white, but surprisingly it was built of a warm wood, giving an inviting impression to those entering it, although the sheer size of it still boggled his mind. Two massive staircases, made of polished marble, ran along the sides of the room, curving upwards towards a second floor. The butler before him bowed low, before requesting he wait there, and calmly walking off into a doorway to the left. Sandy fidgeted nervously, trying to adjust the far too tight tie around his neck to get a bit more air. Glancing to the side, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the polished glass of a grandfather clock.

He cut an imposing figure in his three piece navy suit, his chin length dirty blonde hair combed back. Finding clothes to fit his heavily muscled nearly seven foot tall frame were always difficult…in the end he'd had to have this suit tailored, but even with that, it felt far too confining to a man more used to a workman's uniform.

His ruminations were cut off by the sound of heels clacking on the floor. He turned to look at the doorway to the left that the butler had previously walked through, just in time to see a lovely young woman walking calmly through the door. Her shoulder length wavy white hair bounced behind her as her ice-blue eyes locked onto his, warmth evident in them along with her small half smile. Her powder blue dress emblazoned with the Schnee crest hugged her form tightly, with small glints of light glinting off the two silver circular earrings hanging down from her ears. He gulped once more, before bowing stiffly.

"Mrs. Schnee?" Sandy asked, his deep voice cracking slightly in his nervousness. A small giggle made him straighten up to see her with one well-manicured hand over her mouth as she stifled a small giggle, a twinkle in her eye.

"Miss Schnee actually. My sister is missus. But please, call me Winter. Pleased to meet you Mr. Wren." Winter held out her hand for a shake. Sandy took her hand carefully, a bit shocked by how easily his hand dwarfed hers, but impressed by her firm grip as she shook his hand. Releasing him, she smiled at him once more, tilting her head towards an unobtrusive elevator set below the landing. "Let's take the elevator…Weiss' office is up on the fifth floor, which is why she had that installed. Please, follow me." Leading the way, Winter held up a small keycard by a scanner near the door. With a small beeping noise, the doors slid open, allowing the two to step into the elevator together. The height difference was even more pronounced in such a confined space, his six foot eleven frame compared to her petite five foot two frame, although she did not seem in the slightest bit perturbed. Her presence easily made up for the physical difference in height…for all her warmth, Sandy was still a bit intimidated. Here beside him was the second in command of the largest company in the world, a woman who rumor said was ruthless in the boardroom, and one whose opinion was highly respected and valued by her older sister. The soft ding of the elevator broke Sandy out of his musings once more, to reveal a richly carpeted hallway, with soft lighting and muted coloring.

Directly in front of the elevator door was a frosted glass door, with the words 'Weiss Schnee, CEO' emblazoned across a white gold nameplate on the door. The hallway stretched to both sides of the door, revealing similar doors along both sides, but Sandy only had time for a brief glimpse before Winter had strode forward and knocked on the door. A second later, a calm voice called out 'Come in'. Winter pulled the door open, gesturing for Sandy to proceed. As he walked past her, she smiled and winked at him, closing the door behind him, leaving him in the room.

A large office space, with darkly stained wooden bookshelves holding a multitude of books and papers on the two sides of the wall. Directly behind the large desk in the middle of the room was a large set of sliding glass doors, curtains pulled back allowing the sunlight to spill through into the room. But Sandy's eyes were instantly drawn to the woman sitting at the desk, carefully scribbling something on a paper before she looked up to lock eyes with him.

Arresting blue eyes, long luxurious white hair tied up into a side ponytail, and an exquisite cultured face were in his view, all dressed in a perfectly tailored white business suit. A red rose pin was pinned to her right shoulder, reminding Sandy of who this woman was married to. He gulped once more, suddenly feeling very underdressed, before she stood up and walked around to desk to offer her dainty hand, Sandy once again feeling far too tall as he noted she was only a few inches taller than her sister.

"Mr. Wren, I am so pleased you could accept our invitation. Thank you for agreeing to see me. I am Weiss Schnee, but feel free to call me Weiss. Please, take a seat." Breaking off her shake with him, she casually gestured to the comfortable looking leather chair sitting on the other side of her desk. Sandy nodded, taking the seat carefully as Weiss re-took her seat at her desk, folding her hands carefully on the table as she examined him. Sandy felt almost like a bug on a microscope, even with the half smile she had painted on her face. Finally, she seemed to finish her examination, speaking once more. "Well, Mr. Wren, I called you here for a very simple reason. You see, I am in need of an excellent, discrete, and swift repair company to handle the…accidents…that occur here. Having done my research, Winter and I immediately settled on your company. Not only do you provide multiple services at fair prices, but your reputation proceeds you as a fair-minded man who makes a great effort to treat all his employees well, and does good work. Not to mention I have heard from numerous sources that you are exceedingly adamant about fair treatment for all your employees, human or faunus. Would you consider all this accurate?"

Sandy coughed for a moment, taking a deep breath before replying. "Yes, I would say that is accurate. And if you wish, you may call me Sandy. I believe my company can handle anything you have to throw at us." Weiss raised an eyebrow at that, but before she could reply a muffled boom sounded from outside, and as Sandy glanced over Weiss' shoulder at the glass doors, he noted a red and black blurred rocket heading towards them, on a collision course with the window. Pointing quickly, jaw dropped, Weiss spun in her chair before sighing. Standing up, she quickly flipped her hand up, two fingers pointing up into the air. A second later, a shimmering fractal white glyph appeared between her and the window. Smirking, she turned back around to look at Sandy, seemingly unconcerned at the swiftly approaching blur.

"Anything, you say?" As though her words were a trigger, the blur smashed into the glass, shattering through it. Even as Sandy ducked, the glass shards bounced casually off the glyph, even as the blur slammed into with a loud thud and a groan. The blur slowly brought itself to its feet, revealing a tall, dark haired woman with red tipped hair, a distinctive red cape trailing behind her as she clambered to her feet, holding her head.

"Ouch! Dammit Weiss, why did you use the white glyph? You coulda used the black one!" Weiss' smirk didn't fade as she gestured behind her.

"Because Ruby, we have a guest and I didn't want him to get hit by flying glass. Sandy, this is my wife, Ruby Rose. Ruby, this is Sandy Wren. I told you about him, we're looking to hire him." Silver eyes met his as a wide grin cracked her previously pouting expression, rushing forward in a blinding flurry of speed to take his hand.

"Hi! I'm so glad to meet you, Weiss has been searching for a great repairman for soooo long!" Ruby looked like she would continue to prattle on, if it weren't for Weiss yanking her back by the collar of her cloak, making the red-head's eyes go wide and let out a 'yurk!' sound as she was pulled.

"Ruby, darling, is everyone here today?" Ruby shrugged Weiss' hand off her, giving her a playful glare before adjusting her cloak.

"Yeah, everyone's outside, enjoying this lovely day, where you should be too! You can take a break you know." Weiss expression softened for a moment, before rolling her eyes with an indulgent smile.

"Yes, yes, I know Ruby, I know. I promise after I've settled everything with Mr. Wren here, I'll come spend time with you. But for now, I think it would be prudent to introduce him to everyone who will be making his job a living hell if he takes it." Ruby pouted at Weiss, her twenty three year old face morphing back into a five year olds.

"Oh c'mon Weissy, we're not _that_ bad!" Weiss' unamused look expressed her view on the matter clearly. Ruby just huffed before strolling back to the glass doors, tossing her hair haughtily. "Fine fine, I'll go tell everyone to chill out while you bring him down. See ya in a couple minutes!" With that, she disappeared in a blur of rose petals, leaping off the balcony edge, making Sandy gape for a moment before he remembered the whole 'huntress' thing. Shaking his head in disbelief, he returned his gaze to Weiss', meeting her amused smirk.

"Well, shall we?"

* * *

Sandy blinked as the bright summer sun shining down on the massive backyard flitted into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. His ears easily picked up the sounds of a multitude of shouts and cheers, along with some murmured conversation, before he finally could open his eyes and see clearly in the light. He felt himself skidding to a stop as his jaw dropped, both in awe of the view before and those in it.

The yard was incredibly huge. Acres upon acres of land, all perfectly cared for, with winding paths amidst lovely gardens, hedge mazes, and cobblestone pathways. A beautifully green forest appeared back in the distance, and further beyond the indistinct forms of mountains forming a backdrop to what lay before him. However, the peaceful scene was disrupted by what looked like organized chaos, even as he recognized that he was currently in the presence of perhaps the most famous young people currently on Remnant.

A massive belowground pool dominated the center of the yard before him, large umbrellas with reclining pool chairs situated to the leftmost side. On them, reclining casually was a black haired faunus woman (one he instantly recognized as Blake Belladonna), sunglasses firmly planted on her eyes as she read a book, letting the summer sun bake down on her bikini clad form. Beside her, a red-haired shirtless young man lay, arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. Currently swimming across the pool, seemingly in a race, was a blue haired man and another red haired but darker skinned man, their taunts audible even from this distance. A green haired man was floating on his back in a tube, laughing at the other two, pretending to be an announcer for their race.

Behind the pool, a gorgeous blonde woman Sandy also knew as Yang Xiao Long was standing at the back of what looked like…a catapult? Before he could comment, Weiss gestured towards the group, before lifting one hand at an angle towards the sky. A brilliant burst of white shot from her hand up, shattering at the apex, sending a scintillating series of ice crystals down, getting everyone's attention. Beckoning them, Weiss waited calmly as the gaggle of people began running, walking, or in one case skipping towards them. As they all gathered before her, Weiss gestured to Sandy at her side.

"Everyone, meet Sandy Wren. Sandy, these are the people who will bring about the apocalypse and generally break everything I own."

Ignoring the grumbled, shouted, and growled denials, Weiss began pointing out each one in turn, her voice bored as she spoke. "Here we have our weapons dorks, my wife (whom you have met), Sage, and Fox. These three seem to be under the impression any weapon, and most household implements, can be improved with explosive powders and/or guns. I've had to rebuild their workshop six times this past year, so expect this to be a common job for you." Weiss was interrupted by Ruby appearing at her side, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek, a cheeky grin spread across her face.

"Aww c'mon Weiss, the thing with the whisk was an accident! I thought if we made it spin on its own it'd cut down on work!" Weiss glared at Ruby, not budging an inch.

"It spun a hole clean through the bowl, the counter, and through the floor! For all we know it's still drilling its way down to the center of the planet!" Ruby chuckled sheepishly, looking away guiltily, seeming not to have a response to that. Weiss huffed and continued, but Sandy noted how she relaxed her stance slightly and leaned into Ruby's arms.

"Now here, we have the blonde menaces and their hammer wielding accomplice, Yang, Sun, and Nora. Realize that when sober their favorite pastimes are setting things on fire, stealing, and breaking bones, so imagine how much worse it is when they drink. Which is every time they have downtime." Yang dashed over, clad in a brilliant yellow bikini that left very little to the imagination, and grabbed his hand in hers, grinning up at him.

"Well hey there Sandy! Don't listen to the princess here, we're not thaaaaat bad! She's just upset about the tree thing, that's all."

"You mean where you threw a tree _through_ my front door, trying to re-enact some siege scene from a movie?"

"It was a good movie! Besides, it didn't break that much!"

"Yang, you threw it through the door, through the elevator, through the wall, and it came out the back side of the building! You nearly brought down the entire foyer when you took out the support columns!"

Sun stepped forward, shrugging. "Hey, we had no way of knowing it was gonna go that fast! Besides, it wasn't all us! Neptune helped!" A blue-haired boy punched Sun the shoulder, glaring.

"Hey! You asked me how a ballista worked, you never told me you planned on building one!" A smooth, amused voice rolled out of the dark haired girl's mouth.

"Neptune, seriously, you should have known Sun wouldn't volunteer to actually learn things." Neptune sighed, dropping his shoulders and scuffing at the ground.

"Yeah, I know, my boyfriend's a dumbass." Sun looked affronted, before pulling a banana peel out of nowhere and throwing it into the back of Neptune's head. Neptune froze in place, before slowly turning on Sun, his face frozen in an eerie calm. His eye twitched for a brief moment, as Sun giggled sheepishly, before waving. "Err, gotta go." Sun took off like a rocket, Neptune following a moment later.

"Get back here you damned monkey!"

"You won't hurt me, you love me!"

" _Doesn't mean I won't kick your ass!"_ Their voices faded into the distance as they ran off, leaving the group giggling. Weiss sighed, before gesturing to the dark haired girl who had spoken.

"And this is Blake, the last member of my team. She's also nice and non-destructive, but Yang can convince her to do anything, so things still end up broken around her." Blake glared at Weiss, before shaking Sandy's hand.

"Ignore the Ice Queen, I have Yang under complete control." Blake smirked, making Sandy blink and blush slightly, as Yang sputtered indignantly, but a glance from Blake made her pipe down. Weiss gave her own glare at Blake for the nickname, before continuing.

"Often, you will find Blake in the company of Scarlet, who also enjoys reading, although while Blake prefers bad romance, Scarlet prefers reading celebrity gossip magazines. He's obsessed with gossip, and will talk your ear off if you let him get going." Scarlet blushed as red as his namesake, shuffling his hands behind his back to hide the magazine in hand. Coughing, he reached one hand out, keeping the other behind his back while shaking Sandy's hand. Weiss pointed next at the only man near Sandy's size.

"This is Yatsuhashi. He is a man of few words, but he enjoys practicing his swordplay, which unfortunately has led to the utter annihilation of my lovely gardens eleven times. Of course, that's also partially Pyrrha's fault, since she spars with him constantly. I built an arena for them to practice in, but they keep breaking it." Yatsuhashi glanced furtively to the side, as Pyrrha giggled sheepishly, her arm around a blonde man's waist.

"The one Pyrrha is holding is her husband, Jaune. Jaune does his best not to break my things, which I appreciate, but he also has the inability to walk correctly, so he tends to break my dishes. I bought specially reinforced dust dishes just because of him." Jaune gulped, smiling worriedly at Weiss, before stepping forward to shake Sandy's hand as well.

"Let's see…oh, we can't forget Ren, the only person who actually helps around the house. He's also an excellent cook. Well, I suppose I'll be fair, Jaune is also an excellent cook, he just can't serve or else he'll drop the food. Those two cook all our dinners when we decide to have a family dinner. Any time we do, I'll probably be calling you after, because those dinners always result in something or someone broken." Sandy raised an eyebrow.

"What, like knives in the wall or something?" Everyone began laughing at that, before Weiss gave a rueful smile.

"Or something." Weiss' response made Sandy open his eyes nervously, before she continued.

"Ren and Nora are married, so be careful about speaking about Ren in her presence, because she can give quite the speech about why he's the perfect husband. Which then leads to arguments about who has the best partner," Weiss leaned in and put her mouth behind her hand, giving a stage whisper everyone could clearly hear. "By the way, that would be me." Before anyone could protest, she straightened back up with a cough and pointed to the next person in line.

"Coco is a bit of a fashionista…ok, more than a bit. That look she's giving you right now? She's judging your outfit and plotting what she could dress you in." Coco had opened her mouth to protest, but slammed it shut with a click of teeth as Weiss continued, realizing she _had_ been doing exactly that. "Next to her is Velvet, who is very shy. Don't worry if you need to ask her to repeat herself five times, that's normal. She loves to experiment with Dust…she's created some amazing dust applications. Of course, experimentation comes with failure, which is how my forest once ended up encased in a glacier. Among other things. I contemplated a workshop for her, but realized any such building would need rebuilt at least once a day. At least Ruby's workshop only needs rebuilt once a month or so." The pretty rabbit faunus blushed, as Coco gave Weiss a glare, which Weiss ignored.

"Well, I do believe that's everyone. So, Sandy, I see you haven't run screaming for the hills. I'll assume that means you still want the contract?" Sandy gulped, running his hand through his hair nervously.

"Umm…yes? I mean, yes. Yes I do. My company can handle this." Weiss' grin spread across her face, shark-like, as the assembled group began giggling or chuckling to themselves, sharing a glance that conveyed a great many meanings at once.

"Very well then." Weiss quickly pulled a paper out of the inside of her suit jacket, before holding her hand out. Yang tossed a pen over to Weiss, making Sandy wonder where she had been hiding that considering her clothing, before deciding not to worry about it. "I've already sent you a copy of the contract, which I assume you have read over, correct?" Sandy nodded. "Excellent. Then sign here to sell your soul to the Ice Queen." Sandy blinked rapidly, taken aback, both by her phrasing and the far too chilling smile plastered on her face. He cleared his throat, taking the pen and paper in hand. The realization hit him he had nowhere to sign it on, before a flurry of rose petals flew in front of his face, making him wave them off. He realized Ruby had appeared before him, back turned, pointing at her even back. Sandy just shook his head, before placing the paper on her back and quickly signing at the bottom. With a cheeky grin, Ruby snatched the pen and paper from him before disappearing, reappearing at Weiss' side in seconds.

"Ok, contract filed Weissy." Sandy's jaw dropped, eye twitching, as he tried to contemplate how fast she must have moved. At his look, Blake took pity on him.

"Her semblance is speed. Get used to it. According to her, when she uses it, it makes us all look like we're frozen in place." Ruby nodded along with Blake, shrugging.

"Yep! You all are just too slow!" Giggling to herself, her humor was interrupted by Weiss flicking her in the forehead.

"Yes my dear wife, slow I may be, but I still can always catch you." Weiss winked at Ruby, making the red-head's grin shift to a more sensual one as leaned in closer to Weiss, whispering something in her ear that made the CEO go a shade of bright red. Weiss cleared her throat, turning to speak to Sandy, clearly flustered, but the sudden sounds of a loud explosion from behind them had them all spinning about.

The remains of the catapult were splintered everywhere, pieces of it flung far off and smashing through the grounds. Everyone stared at it, jaws gaping, before a contemplative voice came from Nora.

"Oh…is that where I left the time bomb Fox gave me to test?" As one, all heads turned to Fox. Fox stood stock still for a brief moment, before chuckling nervously and running off. Weiss sighed, face in palm, before turning to Sandy.

"Well, here you go. Your first job starts today. When you're done, just give the bill to Winter, she'll see you get your payment as soon as possible. Now if you'll excuse me, Ruby needs to help me with some business decisions." Weiss' face was carved from granite, until Ruby spun around and winked at Sandy.

"She means she's turned on and needs some of the sexay Rubay." Weiss' face went bright red, embarrassment and anger warring on her expression, opening her mouth as though to begin lecturing Ruby. Ruby shrugged, giggling, before yanking Weiss up into her arms and disappearing in a flurry of rose petals. Sandy stared blankly for a moment, before shrugging absently. Standing with his hands on his hips, he quickly surveyed the damage, before pulling his scroll out. He had a lot of calls to make.


	3. Movie Night!

Yang relaxed her head back into Blake's lap, eyes closed, hands folded peacefully over her stomach as she snuggled into Blake on the long couch she lay upon. Blake was sitting at the edge of the couch, book in one hand, her eyes scanning over the pages. Her other hand rest in her lap, occasionally running her fingers through Yang's mane of wild hair absently. Blake flipped a page as Yang let out a hum of contentment, but all too soon the moment ended as Blake flipped the final page over. With a long suffering sigh, Blake placed the book down, her hand stilling in Yang's hair. When Yang noticed the gentle touch had stopped, she opened her eyes and frowned up at Blake.

"Hey, something the matter kit-kat?" Blake ducked her head, her expression set in an uncharacteristic pout.

"I don't want to read right now, but I don't know what else to do. We don't have another hunt lined up for another three weeks!" Yang hummed to herself, thinking it over as she arched her back, stretching it out. As she looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought, Blake looked down at Yang and marveled at her for a moment, before her eyes lit up. A grin came across her face, which Yang caught as she locked eyes with Blake. Seldom had Yang seen Blake look so excited.

"Blake?"

Blake stared down at Yang for a moment, biting her lip, opening her mouth to say only four words. "Wanna make a movie?"

* * *

"Ok, what am I doing again?" Blake signed at Jaune, shoving him into the center of the foyer.

"Just stand there for now!" Jaune sighed, rolling his eyes.

"And why am I playing the love interest?" Blake glared at Jaune, her newsboy cap nearly flying off her head as she spun, pointing a conductor's baton at him.

"Because Sun won't dress up in a suit and you're the only other blonde here! Besides, you're the bad love interest, the one who makes the heroine realize she deserves someone better!" Jaune threw his hands up in the air, moaning.

"Why does it matter that I'm blonde?!"

"Shut it! I'm the director and I wrote the script, now stand in the dance floor and try to look debonair or something until Yang comes in!" Jaune rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his feet on the ground. Blake spun around to Pyrrha who was manning the camera.

"Do you have the right angle?" Pyrrha gave a thumbs up, sending a wink at Jaune as soon as Blake had turned her back once more. "Velvet, are you ready to do the effects?" Velvet nodded from the back corner, a couple of dust crystals in her hands. "Yang? Are you ready?" The sound of heels clicking off the floor sounded from behind Blake, making her spin around only to freeze in place.

Yang was dressed in a beautiful strapless yellow dress, a flowing translucent scarf wrapped around her neck and falling down her arms, covering…what?

"Yang! Why do you have Ember Celica on?" Yang looked down at her wrists, frowning.

"In case I have to defend myself!"

"Yang this is a romance movie! There is no fighting!" Yang waved one hand dismissively at Blake.

"Psh, best romance movies are the ones with lots of action. Don't worry kitty, I got this. I'm a fabulous actress!" Blake squeezed her eyes shut, before sighing.

"Fine! Get in position! Ren, cue the music! Lights, camera, action!" Nora gleefully leapt into the middle of the room, snapping the film slate shut before dashing out of the way, her one job done. Yang stepped slowly into the room, swaggering as she smirked at Jaune, stepping close to him. Jaune looked a bit disturbed, backing away slowly, a nervous smile on his face. Blake instantly frowned.

"No no no! Cut cut cut! Jaune, you're not supposed to be backing away! This is the woman you're trying to seduce so you can manipulate her into doing what you want! You're the bad guy, get it right!" Yang scoffed, sounding scarily like Weiss for a moment.

"Hey, seduce _me_? Excuse you, _I_ do the seducing here! Vomit-boy couldn't seduce me if he tried!" Pyrrha growled from behind the camera, glaring at Yang as Jaune rolled his eyes once more. Blake threw her hands up in frustration.

"Oh shush you! Just get back in position Yang, let's take it from the top. Velvet, remember, summon the snowflakes right as they start dancing." Coco sidled up next to Blake, tipping her omnipresent sunglasses down as she leaned slightly towards Blake.

"Why snowflakes? How is there snow inside?" Blake sniffed haughtily.

"Don't you worry about it! The script makes sense!" Coco arched an eyebrow at Blake, before shrugging. "Ok, let's try again!"

* * *

"Dammit Yang, you're not supposed to fling him around like a ragdoll!"

"But Blakey, you said 'sweep him off his feet' in the script!"

"No I said he's supposed to sweep _you_ off your feet!"

"Jaune couldn't pick me up if he tried!"

As the two continued to bicker, Jaune groaned as he tried to get up from the hole in the wall his flying body had created when Yang had accidently let go of him during mid 'sweep'. Pyrrha had rushed over to his side, helping him out of the rubble, trying to glare angrily at the arguing pair, but finding herself still slightly amused. Jaune was perfectly fine, his aura having easily protected him, so he just grinned up at his wife cheekily.

"I'm fine Pyrrha. Yang's just a bit enthusiastic is all." Pyrrha scoffed, rolling her eyes with an indulgent smile. The pair looked back over at the bickering black and yellow couple, before Jaune shrugged. "Well, this is going great."

* * *

"Ok, why are you dressed like a ninja?"

"Because I'm rescuing Yang from the clutches of the evil manipulative romance interest, Jaune!"

"I doubt ninja's wore thongs."

" _Coco! Stop staring at my girlfriend's ass!"_ Blake blushed heavily, before coughing into her hand and standing straight. Coco just rolled her eyes at Yang, currently tied to a table leaning against the wall.

"Oh come off it blondie, it's hard to miss. Those pants are so skintight you'd see the panty lines if she was wearing anything else!...unless…are you even _wearing_ underwear at all?" Blake coughed again, face beet red, before pulling her 'ninja' mask on.

"S-Shush! We have a scene to do! Let's quibble about the details later! Nora, cue it!" Nora popped out of the corner, face split into a manic grin, taking the film slate and holding it open before the camera.

"Take ABC123!" Ren popped out from behind the camera, looking at Nora, the confusion written plainly on his face.

"Nora, its take six."

"That's what I said!"

"No, you said ABC123."

"Yeah, that has six characters in it!"

"…"

"Oh, and one plus two plus three equals six! _And_ one times two times three equals six as well!" Pyrrha placed her hand on Ren's shoulder, shaking her head silently as Ren sighed, swinging himself behind the camera once more.

"Fine. Go ahead Nora."

"Lights, camera, sexy action time!" Nora gleefully slammed the clapper board shut, winking at Ren. Blake stumbled into the center of the screen, thrown off entirely by Nora's last comment, as Jaune just stared at Nora, jaw dropped. Blake shook her head before drawing Gambol Shroud, pointing it at Jaune.

"Back off villain! I am here to rescue the lady and you shall not stop me!" Yang bit her lip, a tiny chuckle escaping her, only Blake's masked glare keeping her from losing it entirely. Jaune stuttered for a moment, before taking a proud stance and pointing Crocea Mors back at Blake.

"You're too late, Blake of the Bella Clan! I've captured this maiden and she will…err…" Jaune quickly stage whispered to the side, hand in front of his mouth. "Wait, what's my line again?" Pyrrha quickly held up a placard with his speech on it, making Jaune nod. "Err, as I was saying, she will serve me for eternity! You stand no chance against my might! Now, prepare to fight!" as Jaune spoke, he slammed his blade into his shield, setting off a loud ringing noise. Blake winced as it hit her sensitive ears, but a sudden yipe from her left made everyone quickly glance to the side. Velvet, who had been sleeping peacefully in the corner, her energy long since having left her, woke up to the sound of the blade impacting the shield, a pure white dust crystal in hand. Velvet looked down at her hand sleepily, before her eyes widened as the crystal glowed. The rabbit faunus winced, giving a silent apology, as massive amounts of snow materialized in midair at the top of the foyer.

Moments later, gravity took its toll, the large piles of snow falling down and burying the entire cast in fluffy white powder, stifling the yelps. Blake managed to pop her head out of the snow, taking a deep breath, and had just begun trying to clamber her way out when the front door opened, revealing Weiss in her immaculate business suit, followed by a chattering Ruby. Ruby instantly paused in mid-sentence, wisely going silent as Weiss took in what she saw before her. As more people began to clamber out of the snow, Weiss took careful note of the camera, the outfits, the kindling that were once tables that Yang had accidentally broken while tied up, and the hastily 'repaired' hole in the wall, a sheet draped over it.

Weiss casually put her hand on her hip, locking eyes with Blake, before speaking. "Which of you is responsible?" Before Blake could react, everyone had pointed directly at the black haired faunus, even Yang (although the blonde did it while giggling). Weiss marched up to Blake, easily striding across the snow without issue, before leaning down to stare directly into Blake's eyes as she sat on top of the snow mound. "I can't believe you Blake. All this time I thought you were the least likely to destroy things, and here you are, trying to do dust knows what-"Weiss was interrupted by Nora waving cheerfully from a pile of snow she was currently trying to shape into a snowman.

"We're making a romance movie! Yang's the helpless maiden and Blake's her ninja rescuer turned lover saving Yang from the dastardly Jaune!" Weiss blinked rapidly, confusion sparking across her face, before an eerie calm settled across it. A slow smile spread across her face as she swiftly reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a small card, flinging it to land before Blake in the snow. Weiss casually strode away, flipping her hand offhandedly at Blake.

"Blake, _you_ get to call him and explain what the hell happened here. Make sure to give details so he knows what needs fixed!...Oh, and I'll be taking a copy of your script. I'm sure it'll come in handy." Blake glanced down at the card, holding it up to read the scroll number, right beneath the words 'Sandy's Home Repair!" Blake blushed, before sighing and picking up her scroll.


	4. The Story of Our Lives

The sound of the alarm, followed by the loud clashing of reinforced gates slamming into each other hit Yang's ears as she calmly waited by the door to the room. She felt naked without Ember Celica on, but she comforted herself with the reminder they would be right outside the room, in easy reach. She understood why she had to surrender her gauntlets…didn't mean it felt right, but she understood. As she waited, arms crossed behind her back, she noticed the way the two guards flanking her kept shooting glances her way. She supposed it made sense…she was something of a celebrity hero, being a part of team RWBY and the title holder for kickboxing currently. And well, she looked incredible, if she said so herself. She would have smiled, but her mission kept poking into her mind, making her keep a neutral expression on a face far more used to bright, open smiles. A cough from her right made her turn to look at the female guard, who gestured to the door.

"He's ready Miss Xiao Long." Yang nodded, stepping back so the male guard could unlock the door. As it opened, Yang stepped in, her eyes instantly locking onto the red haired man handcuffed to the metal table. He looked up and locked his hazel eyes with her lilac ones, a worried look crossing his face as he tried to stand. Both Yang's escort and the two guards behind him stepped forward as he lurched over, hands still cuffed to the table.

"You! You're Yang. Is something the matter with Blake? Is she ok? What happened?" Yang was taken aback by the vehemence in his voice, before raising her hands to placate him.

"Whoa, whoa. Chill. Blake is fine, I swear." Adam took in a deep breath, seating himself once more, hands clasped before him. The guards stayed close to him, just in case he had another outburst, but Yang waved them back. Taking the seat on the other side of the table, Yang spun it about and straddled it, leaving her hands resting on the back of it. Yang nodded to the guards, giving her permission for them to leave the room. She had set this visit up a week ago, wanting privacy. They had worked out a compromise, allowing the guards to stay outside the room, keeping their eyes on Adam, but not being able to hear what was said. The four guards shared a glance before nodding sharply, each pair exiting through the two opposite doors and standing at attention behind them. Yang looked back over to Adam, once again locking eyes with him. He spoke, his voice low and steady.

"Blake speaks of you often when she visits. But I never expected to see you here. Why are you here?"

Yang sighed, running her hand through her hair as she looked down at the table. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Adam. "Blake told me a lot about you. How you were her first friend, you taught her to fight, to survive, how to live off whatever came your way. But you also taught her how to read. You gave her her love of books. You looked out for her. You protected her, provided for her. You did for her what I did for my little sister Ruby. In every way, for the first part of her life, you were her only family. And right now, you're still her only family." Adam cocked his head at Yang, the confusion evident in his eyes as he narrowed them. Yang closed her eyes briefly before continuing.

"When Weiss wanted to ask my sister to marry her, she asked my father's permission, and my own. Even though we all think it's an outdated tradition and unnecessary, she asked. She said it meant more to her to get our approval. And you know, I kinda see where she's coming from. So that's why I'm here. I won't ever forgive you for what you did in Vale, as part of Cinder's assault on the city. But, you're Blake's family…the only family she has left. So I came here to ask you…may I have your blessing to marry Blake?"

Adam was clearly taken aback, his entire being leaning back from her as his mouth gaped wide. Yang would have giggled at the comical expression on his face, if she weren't so nervous about his reply. Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, composing himself, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table as he looked back at Yang.

"Blake talks about you a lot. In fact, half the time she spends here, she's telling me another story about you. She calls you her light, did you know that?" Yang's brilliant blush answered his question, making his lips twitch slightly upward. "Well, she does. Blake loves you…and the fact you came here, facing me, when we both know you hate me, to ask me this, tells me you love her. So my answer is yes. You have my blessing. As long as you promise me, _promise me_ , you will keep her safe and happy. Just give me your word you'll keep protecting her, and I will gladly give you my blessing."

Yang nodded. "Of course. I will always protect her, forever. Nothing will stop me. I promise, I'll keep her safe and keep trying to make her as happy as she makes me."

Adam smiled ruefully. "Very well. You have my blessing, and my best wishes."

Yang smiled back at Adam, before schooling her expression once more. Nervously drumming her fingers on the back of the chair, she sighed again. "Ok…thank you. Well, in that case, I have one more question for you. More of a request. I've spoken to Ruby and Weiss about this, and we're all leery, but I know what this would mean to Blake, so…" Yang trailed off, but Adam gestured at her to keep going. Yang shook her head for a moment to clear it, before continuing. "If she says yes, when we get married…would you be willing to attend? Walk her down the aisle? You'd have to be under heavy guard, and you'd have to wear semblance disabling cuff, but…I know Blake would love it if you could be there."

Adam blinked at Yang, shocking the blonde when she noticed the small tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. He shook his head quickly, coughing for a second, before replying. "Are….are you sure? I wouldn't want to put a damper on the wedding for the rest of you."

Yang slowly shook her head, smiling softly at him. "I can't forgive the man in the mask for what he did to Vale. And you are still that man. But Blake has told me, time and again, there is much more to you than the mask. I just saw a bit of that man when you reacted to my request. No, it wouldn't put a damper on it. Blake would love it, and as long as she's happy, I'm happy. I'm willing to look for what Blake sees. Are you willing to show me what it is she sees?" Adam glanced down at the table, looking at his cuffed hands, with a half-smile on his face. The two sat in silence for a few moments, before he glanced up at Yang.

His voice a whisper, he replied to Yang. "If Blake and you would have me, I would be honored to be a part of your wedding." Yang nodded sharply, her expression distracted.

"Ok…ok. But you have to wear one of the cuffs you know. And from experience, let me tell you, they aren't comfortable." Adam cocked his head at Yang, confusion written on his face. She sighed, before continuing. "It's a new invention Weiss' company came up with. They are cuffs that can be worn underneath clothing that disable a person's access to their semblance. When it came time for human trials, Weiss asked me to be the guinea pig, since she figured if the cuffs could block my aura, they could block nearly anyone's. Well…they work. They work very well. It's not painful, but…it's hard to explain, but without access to your semblance, it feels like part of you is missing. It's very weird. I can't say I like it, but I see the use of it. I just want you to know what you're agreeing to."

Adam shook his head in negation, the rueful half smile still on his face. "I get it, but I'll deal with it. I understand why it's necessary. As long as it makes Blake happy, I'll deal with it."

Yang smiled sadly back at Adam. "Alright. Well, I don't know when it'll be, I have to ask her first-"Adam quickly interrupted her, his smile turning slightly wicked.

"How are you going to ask her?"

Yang choked on her own words for a moment, before composing herself. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Adam, a bashful blush on her face. "Well, I was thinking-"

* * *

Blake sighed, giving Yang an unamused glare as she held the two sets of earmuffs (one designed specifically for her faunus ears) and blindfold in her hand. "Why are you making me put these on?"

"Cause! Just trust me for a bit, ok? I promise I'm not pranking you, I just want this to be a surprise." Blake let out a long suffering sigh, before fitting the blindfold on. Placing the earmuffs over her human ears, she paused for a moment, consternation written on her face. Blake felt Yang quickly kiss her forehead. "I promise Blake, it'll be ok. Do you trust me?" Blake's expression smoothed out at that as she smiled blindly at Yang, before placing the other pair of earmuffs over her faunus ears. With the senses she relied on the most muffled, she felt vulnerable, but the feeling of Yang taking her hands gently and pulling her along slowly made her feel less so. She took a deep breath through her nose, taking in Yang's scent, a strange mix of citrus and smoke, something that shouldn't work together but somehow always did when it came to Yang. She felt the grass beneath her feet as Yang led her through the backyard of the estate, felt it drop off as it reached the edge of the forest behind, the scent of carefully manicured grass cut off by the leaves around them.

Blake allowed Yang to lead her on further, deeper into the forest, never once stumbling with Yang's exceedingly careful guidance. Her nose twitched as she smelled fresh water, leaving her even more confused, before Yang finally stopped in place. The first thing Yang removed was the earmuffs over her faunus ears, making Blake breathe a sigh of relief as she got to air them out slightly. They were not used to being pinned like that. She could clearly hear Yang's giggle as she twitched her ears, rolling her eyes beneath the blindfold at how much that amused the blonde. Next, Yang pulled off the other set of earmuffs, followed by the blindfold. Blake blinked, the afternoon sunlight blinding her slightly, until her eyes adjusted to the brightness to see what lay before her.

Yang and Blake were standing a few feet away from a large pond in a clearing somewhere deep within the forest behind Weiss' house. A small wooden bench sat to Blake's left, with a leather bound book laying on it. Yang smiled softly at Blake before leading her to the bench, gently pushing her down onto it. Blake looked up at Yang, confused as the blonde sat next to her and picked up the book. "So, are you going to tell me what this is about yet?" Yang chuckled, before opening the book.

"I'm gonna read you a story, Blakey. It's one you know pretty well. This book is called 'Day and Night.'"

"I've never heard of this book," Blake arched an eyebrow at Yang.

"Don't worry, you know this. And you'll love it! Ok, here, lemme get started." Yang flipped the book open, revealing the first page. Blake noticed it had no copyright nor dedication pages, and the writing appeared handwritten, unusual for most published books, but Yang's voice drew her attention back to the blonde next to her. "One fateful day, traveling through an ancient, dark, Grimm infested forest, a young girl stumbled across two Ursa. Quickly finding her strength within, the girl exploded into action, slaying one of the two bear Grimm, but before she could finish off the second, it fell at her feet, dead from a blade impaled in its back. Looking up, she locked eyes with the dark haired beautiful girl from the night before. She remembered the amber eyed girl from the night before and her subsequent attempts to help her sister make friends. But, that didn't matter now. Now, as their eyes had locked, they were partners." Blake caught on quickly to the story being told, a tiny chuckle coming from her as she slipped her arm around Yang's waist. She lay her head on Yang's shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to the blonde's surprisingly calm voice as she read from the book, reliving all their memories together.

It took well over an hour, as Yang steadily read from the book, not once losing her place. Blake was snuggled deeply into Yang's shoulder, a smile practically fused to her face, knowing how much work Yang had to go through for this. The way it was worded, it was pretty clear Yang hadn't written it herself…Blake assumed she had gotten a ghostwriter, or a friend who was good with words to record her stories. Her ears twitched again, noticing the same tiny giggle off in the distance she had heard a few times throughout Yang's reading. She rolled her eyes to herself, her face still hidden in Yang's shoulder…Ruby and Weiss might think they were sneaky, but between Ruby's persistent fidgeting and the fact Weiss kept scolding Ruby under her breath, Blake was very aware of their presence in the trees to their right. Idly, she wondered why they were watching, but left it aside in her mind. Yang had reached recent events, and looking down at the book, Blake realized it had far more pages than this would take. When Yang's voice stopped abruptly, Blake shuddered for a second, lifting her head to look up at the blonde.

"Hey Blake, I think you outta read this last page." Yang held the book out to Blake, the faunus blinking in confusion, but taking the book in her hands, it open to the last page with writing on it. Blake shrugged, deciding to play along. Blake began reading it aloud, quickly realizing it was a chronicle of the events of that day. As she reached the final paragraph, her mind noted Yang getting up, but so focused in the story she didn't even realize what that meant.

"And as Blake read the final words, she looked down to see Yang kneeling before her, a box in hand. Yang smiled up at Blake, looking deep into beautiful amber pools, before speaking softly. 'Blake Belladonna, will you marry me?'" Blake's eyes went wide as she read those words out loud, slowly lifting her gaze from the book to see the truth of the words written on the page. Yang was on one knee before her, brilliant lilac eyes glinting up at her, smile so wide it must have hurt. One hand outstretched, a small dark box in hand, open to reveal a white gold band with a single sapphire resting in the center of the band. In Yang's other hand, a pen rested, held out to Blake.

Blake's hands were shaking as she stared, wide-eyed, unable to move from pure shock. Her eyes darted between Yang, the ring, and the pen, before taking one final glance down at the book resting open in her lap. A muffled squeal erupting from the woods to her right, along with a hissed admonishment, made her jolt. Blake took the pen from Yang's hand, still shaking, and bent over the book in her lap, scribbling quickly. Blake dropped the pen, lifting the book up before her like a shield, holding it open before Yang's face. Yang quickly scanned over the words, her smile brightening even more, as she read from them.

"As Blake recovered from her shock, the only response she could make came from deep within her heart. 'Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!'" Blake dropped the book as Yang finished reading, diving forward off the bench into Yang's welcoming arms, tears of joy pouring down her face as she hugged her girl-no, fiancée tightly, repeating the words she'd written down over and over. Yang drew her to her feet, arms wrapped around Blake, twirling her in place as she laughed. Separating slightly, Yang took the ring out of its resting place in the box and took Blake's hand in her own, slipping the ring onto her finger. Blake lifted her hand, mouth gaping as she gazed at the ring, eyes still blurred with tears. She buried her head in Yang's neck, squeezing her tight enough to rival the blonde's own insanely strong hugs. Lifting her head up, she took Yang's face in both of her hands and slammed their lips together fiercely, possessively, pouring all of her love and affection out for her little sun dragon.

Breaking the kiss, Blake's eyes met lilac ones as she smiled, panting slightly from being out of breath, before gently touching her forehead to Yang's. Chuckling slightly as she heard another squeal, she rolled her eyes before calling out. "Ok you two, enough hiding. Come out!" Seconds later, a red blur appeared beside her and Yang, wrapping her arms around the two of them in a tight hug. Sheepishly, Weiss emerged from the tree line, looking positively ashamed to have been caught as she walked over to them. Blake extricated herself from Ruby's arms as she glanced down at the book on the bench, before lifting her eyes to meet Weiss'. "Did you write that?"

Weiss shook her head in negation. "No, Yang wrote it. I helped her with the wording, but she did all the writing herself." Blake turned back to Yang again, in awe of what she had gone through for her, but Yang just shrugged, still smiling at Blake, her own eyes watery in joy. Ruby kept dancing around them, giggling happily, looking for all the world like she was fifteen again as she wildly danced in happiness.

Blake glanced down at her hand, noticing the cut of the sapphire was unusual. "Where did you get the ring?" Yang nodded at Ruby, who noticed and paused in mid dance, glancing down sheepishly. Blake looked at her in confusion.

"Well, I made Weiss' ring for her too. I learned how to cut stones for it. So when Yang wanted something special for you, of course I worked on it! You've been my sister for years…so I'm happy to help you become my sister legally too!" Blake choked out a laugh, a fresh batch of tears coming to her eyes as Yang took her in her warm arms once more.

"You guys…" Blake cut herself off, unable to continue as she sobbed, head buried in Yang's shoulder. Ruby wrapped her arm around Weiss' waist, the red and white pair just smiling at Blake. Ruby met Yang's eyes for a second, nodding to Yang as Yang returned the look. Swiftly, Ruby snatched Weiss up into her arms, holding her bridal style as the older girl eeped, wrapping her arms around Ruby's neck in confusion.

"Well, we'll leave you two alone. See you back at the house Blake, everyone is waiting to hear how it went! Weiss has everything ready for you two to start planning set up for you!" Without waiting for a response, Ruby disappeared in a blur. Blake had lifted her head to say something, but shut her mouth with a clack as she realized the pair was gone, leaving her and Yang alone. Blake lifted her head the rest of the way, meeting Yang's eyes once more. Yang kissed her forehead softly.

"Let's sit out here for a while, ok? We'll go back later. But we can't forget the book…lots of pages left in it for us to fill out. We'll have plenty of time to fill them." Blake sniffled, laughing softly, as she dropped her head down again to nuzzle Yang's neck.

"Yeah. Let's do that. I love you Yang…I love you so much."

"I love you too, kitten."


	5. Ruby Rose, Dolt Extraordinare

_ Two years earlier _

Pyrrha crept carefully along the hallway, a bit leery to be headed down into the depths of the Schnee Estate. An accident during a difficult mission had left Milo badly damaged…the blade was cracked, and the trigger had broken clean off. Now, Pyrrha was many things, but a weapon engineer she was not. Sure, she had built Milo and Akouo herself, but she had been given a lot of assistance during it, and well, look at the result. This was the tenth time they had been damaged since she had begun at Beacon, but most of the previous damage had been fairly easy to repair. But this time, it was clear, she needed professional help.

Ruby was perhaps the most prolific weapon engineer Pyrrha had ever seen, not that Fox or Sage were any slouches either. When those three weren't spending time adding guns to a Christmas tree, they could be some of the best weapon experts she knew. Her caution had less to do with distrust of Ruby, and more to do with worries about a random explosion, as was known to happen from time to time in the workshop. Pyrrha knew only Ruby was in the workshop…the only people currently in the Estate were herself, Jaune, and Ruby. The rest were all out on missions, time spent in Atlas, or off at another meeting. Having searched all of Ruby's other main hangouts, Pyrrha was left with the workshop. Stopping at the large steel door leading into the workshop, Pyrrha listened carefully for the telltale sounds of Ruby's slight gun obsession, but could hear almost nothing. Instead, all she heard was a small scratching noise. Pyrrha took a deep breath and pressed the button to open the door, watching as it recessed into the wall with a hissing noise.

Pyrrha's eyes scanned around the well-lit massive room, noting all the tools and machines scattered about. Multiple screens, glowing with faint light, were attached to machines of all sizes, placed haphazardly around the floor. A few scrolls were carefully set at one well lit table in a back corner, piles of thick books scattered around them. A large open container that appeared to contain scrap metal was partially full along the far wall, along with sections that were fairly obviously specific to the three different people who used this workshop…one section entirely plastered with posters of multiple different types of explosives clearly belonged to Sage and his obsession on exploding weaponry. A section with far less lighting, but a lot of braille schematics taped up around the desk had to belong to Fox. The final section, with a clear black and red color scheme, situated around a desk where Pyrrha's target sat, bent over in her chair, fiddling with something small. The scratching sound was coming from there, so Pyrrha decided she shouldn't interrupt yet, and just walked quietly over to Ruby's side.

Ruby had a pair of strange dark goggles on her face, a telescoping lens attached to both eyepieces. Before her was a small clamp, holding a deep red gemstone up before her. Two pinpoint lights were shining down onto the gem, as Ruby held a tiny chisel and hammer in hand. Ruby was carefully tapping into the gem, moving very cautiously as she did so. After every tap, she'd lift up a cloth and carefully brush the gem off, peering down at it again before once again resuming her chiseling. On the desk scattered before her were a multitude of small drills and screwdrivers, along with a small band of some shiny metal laying before her. Pyrrha waited until Ruby had set down the chisel and hammer again and was just reaching for the cloth before clearing her throat.

Ruby jumped, eyes scanning around wildly, but when they settled on Pyrrha she jolted back again. Quickly she tore the goggles off, looking back up to see Pyrrha before giving a sheepish smile, her hand over her heart as she panted. "Pyrrha! What are you doing down here?"

Pyrrha held out Milo, the crack in the blade showing clearly. "I was hoping you could take a look at this. I think I need to just get Milo redone…it cracks a lot." Ruby took Milo in her hands, her expression instantly switching to a calculating one as she stared at intently, moving it carefully between her hands as she inspected it. Pyrrha was a little bit surprised by the intensity in Ruby's eyes, once again reminded that underneath Ruby's bubbly, innocent personality was a true craftsman. Before Ruby could disappear with Milo, Pyrrha gestured to the table, her curiosity getting the better of her. "So…what's this?"

Ruby chuckled sheepishly, eyes glancing off to the side as she ran her hand through her hair, the other lowering Milo to the table beside her. "Um…you promise not to say a word?" Pyrrha nodded, eager to know what had made Ruby take up what looked like gem cutting as a hobby. Ruby took a deep breath. "It's for Weiss." Ruby kept her eyes on the floor as Pyrrha glanced down at the gemstone again, before her eyes flicked back to the blushing Ruby. As the wheels in her head turned, it hit her, making her eyes open in surprise as she covered her mouth, barely unable to suppress a squeal.

"You're going to propose to Weiss?!" Ruby nodded, eyes still downcast, blush firmly in place. Pyrrha leapt out and wrapped her arms around Ruby, crushing her in a hug that would make Yang proud, the normally calm amazon too excited for words. Pyrrha found herself at a loss for words, just squealing in happiness as she squeezed. Ruby elbowing her in the side made her release the younger girl, looking at her with a hurt expression until she realized Ruby was panting, trying to catch her breath. Pyrrha's eyes went wide as she remembered her own strength. Thinking back, she realized only Yang in the full grips of her semblance was actually stronger than her…Yatsuhashi and herself had so far evened out in strength. "Err...oops? I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" Pyrrha's frantic comments made Ruby wave her hand dismissively, coughing slightly.

"No, no. I'm fine Pyrrha. I just wasn't expecting that from you, that's all. I'm used to Yang doing things like that." Ruby grinned up at Pyrrha, but her blush hadn't quite faded away.

Pyrrha's grin wouldn't leave her face. "Can I see it?" Ruby shrugged, moving slightly out of the way, allowing Pyrrha an opportunity to move closer. With the much closer viewpoint she had, she had a clear view of the intricate designs etched into the band. The band had small circles equidistant from each other, and inside each circle was a symbol. Every other one was the Schnee crest, while the ones that filled in between were Ruby's own Rose emblem. Upon closer inspection, Pyrrha discerned it was a ruby, which didn't surprise her in the slightest. The large number of red flakes scattered about Ruby's meticulously clean work station made it clear the gem was originally much larger, as Ruby had been cutting and shaving it down for an apparently long time. Pyrrha moved back out of the way, smile still plastered on her face. "It's lovely. I'm sure Weiss will love it! When are you going to ask?"

Ruby sighed, giving a small shrug. "I've been working on it for a while now, when I'm not busy on other projects. I'm nearly done, and I'm sure I'll be ready by the time she gets back from her latest conference. But I haven't really worked out how I'm going to ask! It has to be perfect!"

Pyrrha placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Ruby, you and Weiss are made for each other. Anything you do will be perfect, because it'll be you doing it for Weiss. Trust yourself…because I know Weiss does."

Ruby lifted her gaze from the floor to stare directly into Pyrrha's brilliantly green eyes, water gathering at the corner of her eyes as she smiled at Pyrrha. Leaning forward, she hugged Pyrrha gently, squeezing the amazon slightly before pulling back. "Thanks Pyrrha. That means a lot to me. But enough about that. Let's see what we can do with Milo."

* * *

Ruby paced nervously on the rooftop, arms crossed behind her back. The full moon shone its light down, illuminating the entire flat space of the roof Ruby was pacing across. Her deep scarlet single strap dress swished along her side as she paced, the light, silky material flowing easily as she paced. The only adornment she wore on herself besides the dress was a small necklace, a simple silver locket Weiss had given her the previous year for her birthday. Inside, a picture of the two of them together, smiling at the camera, Ruby's head leaning onto Weiss'. Simple red flats completed her outfit, barely visible beneath the nearly floor length outfit she wore. Ruby's nervous introspection was halted by the sound of the door to the roof opening, a weary looking Weiss, still in her business suit, coming through the doorway.

Weiss looked up as the door opened, wondering at the very strange note Ruby had left asking her to come see her on the roof. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she felt her breath freeze in her lungs at the vision before her, illuminated in the moonlight. The soft silvery light enveloped the huntress, her entire being seeming to glow in the effervescent springtime air. Ruby's silver eyes had the same brilliant shine as the moon above, enchanting Weiss with their radiance. It took Weiss a full minute before she could speak, looking at the adorably nervous Ruby as the younger woman shuffled quietly before her, hands clasped at her waist.

"R-Ruby? What's…what's going on?"

Ruby took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly, before she walked slowly over to Weiss. Extending her hands, Ruby took Weiss' hands in her own, clasping them gently as she pulled Weiss into the pool of moonlight illuminating the rooftop. Ruby squeezed Weiss' hands tightly for a moment. "Weiss…I've tried to think of what to say, the perfect thing to tell you, and I couldn't think of anything worthy of you. I've tried so hard to think of what words will express how I feel, but I don't think they exist. You know me, I'm not the best at explaining things in words…but I still have to try." Ruby slowly pulled Weiss closer to her, letting her hands rest on Weiss' hips as she pulled the shorter woman close. Ruby tapped a tiny button on her waist, and the soft strains of a violin began playing from the darkness outside the moonlight, a quiet background to the pair standing on the roof. Slowly, Ruby began swaying, letting Weiss catch on. The older woman smiled, still slightly confused, but let her hands reach up and wrap around Ruby's neck, tangling her fingers in Ruby's short locks and slowly running them through, letting the silky strands run along her fingers. Ruby's grip on her hips tightened as she continued swaying, opening her heart to let the words come flowing out.

"Weiss, you were my first real friend besides my sister. The first person who I ever could let come close. And what we went through…I never would have made it through without you. I never would have been able to survive everything that happened without you by my side." Weiss opened her mouth to interrupt, but Ruby placed a finger over her lips, shushing her. Weiss jerked her head back, a disgruntled expression plastered on her face, but she sighed and let Ruby continue. "Weiss, I…I love you. So much. I wish I had the words to express how deeply and truly I love you, but the only thing I can tell you is that you are my reason to wake up in the morning. You're the reason I can find so much happiness in life. You're the reason I can just be me. You never ask me to be someone else, never ask me to be anyone but me. You accept me, flaws and all. Little hyperactive Ruby Rose, just some kid who got lucky and found her way into Beacon…and you fell in love with me. You blessed me. My princess." Ruby stopped swaying, reaching down into a pocket that was cleverly hidden in the folds of her dress, and drew out a small blue box. Keeping one of Weiss' hand in her own, Ruby slowly sank to one knee, uncaring at how the fabric of her dress bunched up beneath her knee, keeping her eyes locked on Weiss'. Ice blue eyes went wide, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

"I guess what I want to say Weiss, is that I will love you for eternity and beyond, because one eternity spent with you simply isn't enough. Weiss Schnee…will you marry me?" Ruby extended the hand holding the box, anxiously waiting to see what Weiss would say.

Weiss' reaction was not the one Ruby expected, as Weiss suddenly released her hand and stomped her foot angrily, fists clenched at her side, even as a single tear fell from her eye. "You _dolt!_ You can't do this, not right now!" Ruby's jaw dropped, blinking rapidly as she tried to process Weiss' response, before the older woman pointed firmly down at Ruby. "You stay right there! Don't you dare move!" Weiss dashed off, running at top speed through the door to the roof, leaving a flabbergasted Ruby with a slowly reddening face kneeling, arm still holding the small box out.

It took less than a minute for Weiss, red in the fact and panting, to come bursting out the doorway, finding Ruby still in the same position she had been in when Weiss had left. Weiss took a couple deep breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart, before she took Ruby's hand in her own and lifted the younger woman to her feet. Weiss coughed, before putting as serious an expression on her face as she could manage, even though she sniffled slightly before speaking (to her utmost embarrassment.) Ruby opened her mouth, but Weiss quickly shushed her in the same manner Ruby previously had, smiling softly at Ruby's pout. "You spoke your mind, now it's my turn." Weiss took Ruby's free hand in her own, holding a small black box of the same size in her hand.

"Ruby…if it weren't for you, I would never have learned how wonderful and kind friends can be. I would never have learned what it means to have a real family. I'd still be cold and stuck trying to be perfect, when the perfect one here is you. You made my heart beat again, and it beats for you now. You're my angel, the one who elevated me above with your beautiful soul and loving heart. I wanted to do this a different way, but of course you had to ruin my plans." Weiss' smile took the sting from her words as she sank to one knee, Ruby trailing with her, the two women taking mirrored postures of each other. "Ruby Rose…will you marry me?" Ruby's smile grew, brighter than the brilliant silver shine coming down upon the two of them like silver rain.

"You never answered me."

Weiss smirked slightly, cocking her head to the side. "Then…together. Forever." Locking eyes once more, the two women stared at each other, silver meeting blue, letting the moment carry them as they spoke in one voice, one heart.

_"Yes."_


	6. The Trouble With Tyrants

Weiss let out a heavy sigh, letting her pen fall from her hand onto her desk. She laid her head gently down onto the cold surface of her desk, letting her hands dangle at her sides. Huffing an annoyed breath out, she lifted her head up and casually leaned back in her chair. Three weeks. Weiss groaned to herself as those words crossed her mind again.

Ruby, along with Jaune, Sun, and Coco had left for a 'Leader's Summit' meeting. Leaders of all the teams from around Remnant had gathered together for a conference deep within the Vale wilderness somewhere for a six week stay. Three weeks had passed this way, with three more to go, and Weiss wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. She and Ruby talked every day, but it wasn't the same.

She had done her best to bury herself in work, and when that was done she spent as much time helping Yang and Blake plan their wedding as possible, but if anything that merely made Ruby's absence more apparent. Blake had physically shoved her away last time, telling her it was clearly depressing her more to try to help them.

Hefting herself up from her desk, she stomped sullenly to the door of her office. Her work done for the day, she decided she was going to go spend her remaining time this evening sulking in the same room she had been sulking in since Ruby had left. Hitting the three button on the elevator, she waited impatiently for it to drag her down the two floors she felt far too lazy to walk down. Trudging out of the elevator and down the hall, she stepped through a worn wooden door, taking in exactly the sight she expected.

The large sitting room had shelves of books lined about the walls, with a minibar along the south end. Comfortable, well-worn couches and armchairs dotted the space, with a roaring fire already lit in the fireplace. Stretched out across the plush carpet before the fireplace was Neptune, an uncharacteristic pout splayed on his face as he stared up at the ceiling, not even reacting to Weiss' entrance. Pyrrha was curled up in an armchair, book in hand, but her face betrayed her complete disinterest in the book. Velvet was seated at the bar, a half full bottle of some type of wine sitting beside her nearly empty wineglass. Velvet's ears perked up for a moment when Weiss entered, but quickly fell once more as she recognized the footsteps.

Weiss splayed herself out on the couch next to Pyrrha, not even caring about looking professional. The four of them had found some small comfort in their shared misery, so every evening tended towards the same. They'd gather in this room and wait until their significant others contacted them, the only time of the day they'd actually bother showing life. Weiss huffed out a breath, letting herself sink into the cushions, but Neptune's voice interrupted her musings.

"Does anyone else think this is a little pathetic?" Pyrrha giggled slightly at that, as a smile crossed both Weiss' and Velvet's faces.

"Yeah, it is a bit," Pyrrha responded, setting her book down on the small coffee table next to the armchair she was seated in.

"You think they feel the same?" came Velvet's soft voice, followed by a hiccup which made the rabbit faunus instantly blush as the others tried to stifle their laughter.

"Well, they are being kept busy, or so Sun says. All these strategy meetings and attack plans and studying tire him out so he goes straight to sleep after we stop talking, or so he says."

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but a ringing from her scroll interrupted her. She frantically yanked it out of her pants pocket, hitting the answer button, eagerly anticipating seeing Ruby's face. But it was not Ruby who was on the other side of the scroll.

"Azure? Why are you using Ruby's scroll? Is she ok? What's wrong? Where is Ruby?" Weiss' frantic questioning would have most likely continued if Azure hadn't spoken, his voice soothing.

"Whoa! Ruby is fine…well, mostly. She just asked me to contact you for her. Are Pyrrha, Velvet, and…what was his name again?" A muffled voice sounded in the background as Azure glanced to the left, before turning back. "Neptune! That's it. Are they with you?"

Weiss nodded, before narrowing her eyes. She was ready to being interrogating Azure, but found herself unable to comment as Pyrrha leapt to her side, squeezing against her to see the scroll. Weiss was about to shove her off, but Neptune ended up squeezing against her other side, and sure enough, a second later she felt Velvet leaning over from behind her so she could see as well. Weiss grumbled under her breath about personal space, but turned her attention fully to the scroll before her. "You said 'mostly'. Explain!" Weiss finally noticed that Azure had a large bandage wrapped around his head, with a dark red spot slowly growing right above his left eye, with tired bloodshot eyes. One of his eyes was blackened, and she could see dirt and grime covering his face and hair. "And what the hell happened to _you_?"

Azure chuckled nervously, running one of his hands through his hair. Another glance to the side, followed by a wince, before he coughed and turned his attention back to the scroll. "Weeeellll, you see, someone thought it would be a good idea to not check on the migration patterns of certain rarely seen Grimm."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, not appreciating the way he kept avoiding telling her everything. "What _species_ of Grimm can possibly cause issues when you have hundreds of hunters together!?"

"Tyrants." Weiss and Velvet went pale, eyes wide, as Pyrrha and Neptune looked down at the scroll, confused.

"What the hell are Tyrants? I don't remember that species from our Grimm studies class." Neptune asked, head cocked in confusion.

Azure sighed. "That's because they are seldom encountered. They live far outside the borders of the kingdoms. Tyrants are massive, bipedal lizards, about twelve meters long, and weighing over seven tons. A single tooth is larger than my head. Fully armored on nearly every spot, with tail spikes that they can and do fling out. We don't know a lot about them because we don't see them often. Turns out they migrate. In the same path they always migrated in before. So uh, the summit was apparently right in the way."

"Is everyone ok?" Pyrrha asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"Well, everyone's pretty banged up, but it's nothing permanent. Nobody died. But all the Bullheads we had are toast. Literally. Most of them got set on fire and crunched on. More good news, we discovered certain subspecies of Tyrant's breathe fire. And eat metal. Apparently they enjoy the taste." Azure's deadpan commentary was cut off by the muffled sound of Ruby's voice, coming from the left. He glanced over before nodding, turning back to the scroll. "That's why I'm calling you. Ruby's getting patched up, but she wanted to know if you could get some Bullheads out here to get everyone home." Another muffled comment came from his left. A quick glance and nod before he turned back. "Jaune says please don't kill him, Sun says it's not his fault, and Coco asks if Velvet will wear the…wait, what did you say?" Loud guffaws came from the left once more, as Azure's face twisted into an exasperated expression. Turning back to the scroll, he rolled his eyes. "Coco wants to know if Velvet will wear the nurse's outfit."

All eyes turned to Velvet slowly, as the rabbit faunus went bright red, eyes wide, pulling her ears down to cover her eyes. Neptune muffled his giggles into his glove as Weiss rolled her eyes. Turning back to the scroll, Weiss snapped her fingers to get Azure's attention. "Hey. Turn the scroll so we can talk to those dolts." Azure glanced off to the left at the sudden negative sounds coming from their direction, arching an eyebrow as his grin shifted to a mischievous one.

"Why of course Weiss, you should absolutely see how your wife looks right now. As you all should see your lovers. Please, allow me." Turning the scroll around, the four were treated to a sight that most assuredly did not please them.

"Err…Heya Weissy!" Ruby said cheerfully, wincing as she did. Her shirt was off, revealing her in her bra, with a large white bandage being wrapped around her midsection by Sun, her skin nearly purple from bruising right above her ribcage. Her right leg was splinted, wrapped in another heavy bandage. Sun froze, smiling nervously at the scroll, one eye covered in an eye patch. The fur on his tail was singed, nearly burned clean off, with a long and hastily stitched gash across his side visible beneath the remains of his shirt. Jaune was seated to the side, holding a small bag filled with medical equipment in his right hand, left arm in a sling. Two large cuts making a cross shape were lightly seeping blood across his cheek. Coco was next to Jaune, grumbling under her breath as she glanced at her ripped pants, a long gash with the same hasty stitching as Sun's along her right leg. Her beret and glasses were nowhere to be found, as she injected some sort of painkiller into her arm, showing a large patch of burned flesh on her right shoulder. She glanced up at the scroll before going still, an expression of fear flitting across her face.

No one moved for a brief moment as silence reigned. A pin drop could be heard, until a tiny chuckle from Azure broke the spell everyone was under. Before Weiss or Neptune could begin lecturing, before Pyrrha could react, a low, feral growl sounded from behind the trio. Weiss, Neptune, and Pyrrha slowly glanced backwards once more, to see the most irate Velvet they had ever seen. Every hair on her ears was fluffed out, eyes twitching slightly, as another vicious growl came from within her chest. Velvet leaned forward slowly, grabbing Weiss' hand holding the scroll tightly, and yanking it up to her face. " _Coco Adel!_ How dare you get hurt? You get your fashion obsessed ass back here right this instant or I swear to Dust I will come fetch you myself!" Coco wilted beneath Velvet's gaze, before letting out a meek 'Yes Ma'am' reply that had the others entirely flabbergasted. The sight of the cool, confident, cocky Coco turning into a scared child was so out of character everyone simply had no response. Weiss shook her head, before very cautiously pulling the scroll away from Velvet.

Velvet blinked, the growl fading as she realized what she had said. She coughed slightly, looking away from everyone, before marching back to the minibar. Velvet grabbed the bottle and marched off to the door, turning back around and speaking in a calm, reasoned tone with only a slight quiver to it. "I'll be waiting by the front doors." Without another word, she disappeared out the door. Weiss sighed, looking back at the scroll, eyes narrowing at the sight of Sun, still frozen in place where he had been wrapping the bandage around Ruby's abdomen.

Sun nervously chuckled, standing up straight. "So…Faunus can be territorial! Yeah, just a bit. And uh, Ruby needed someone to apply the bandage, and Coco couldn't with her shoulder, and she didn't want anyone she didn't know doing it, and…I'm gonna shut up now."

Weiss kept her eyes locked on the scroll, glaring. The expressions on Neptune and Pyrrha's faces were not much better, as their partners shared a nervous glance before a quiet cough sounded from the side. The scroll was spun about to look back at Azure, who cocked an eyebrow at Weiss. "So, can we get those Bullheads sent out? If we can get about eight, we can get everyone to Vale, and they can take the normal transports home."

Weiss sighed, before nodding. "I'll have them sent out immediately. Do you need anything else sent with them?"

Azure glanced around him again and sighed. "A lot of painkillers. The strong stuff."

"How the hell are you all so hurt? Why isn't your Aura healing anyone?" Neptune asked angrily, a worried undertone underneath the angry growl.

"We've been fighting for over twenty hours. No one had any Aura left by the time we got these injuries. Honestly, we've pretty much drained ourselves entirely. It's going to take weeks before any of us can regenerate our Aura's enough to heal this. And we still have to worry about infection…Tyrant blood is poisonous. But hey, everyone's alive. That's good, right?" Azure chuckled nervously, before letting it fade off at the unamused glares he was getting.

"Have you told your team yet?" Weiss asked icily, narrowing her eyes. Azure's eye twitched as he glanced away from the scroll, a guilty look crossing his face.

"Err…I was going to, but then Ruby asked me to call you guys, and we still have a lot of wounded to patch up, and…" Azure trailed off at the look on Weiss' face, sighing heavily. "Fine, fine. I'll call them after, ok?"

Weiss nodded sharply. "Yes. Now, I'll get the Bullhead's launched immediately, but you let my wife know she is in for it when she gets back. Understand?" Azure gulped, shrinking back slightly at the vehement tone in her voice, along with the firm requests coming from Pyrrha and Neptune as well. Saluting the three of them, he quickly cut the call off, leaving three fuming hunters in the room. Weiss quickly picking up her scroll once more, dialing the number to get the Bullheads on their way.

* * *

Ruby's knee shook as she leaned against the wall of the Bullhead, biting softly at her lip. She glanced next to her to see Sun, a pout on his face as he looked at his tail. Feeling her eyes on him, he looked back over at her and grinned his irrepressible grin, but Ruby could tell it wasn't convincing. Jaune was on the seat opposite Ruby, head leaned sideways against the wall, staring blankly out the window. Coco was next to him, head in hands, twitching her index finger every so often.

"We're in deep shit, aren't we?" Ruby's voice rang out above the roar of the Bullhead's engines. Coco gave an indelicate snort at that, as Sun and Jaune chuckled.

"Velvet is probably going to break my eardrums by the time she's done yelling at me."

Sun rolled his eyes. "You think that's bad? Nep loves my tail. He'll probably threaten to impale me on his weapon."

Ruby choked back a laugh. "Sun…phrasing."

Sun glanced blankly at Ruby, before the confusion cleared off his face as he glared at her. "Oh come on Red, you know what I meant!"

"Well, it's what you guys do anyways, isn't it?" Coco asked, one hand over her mouth to muffle her chuckles.

Sun looked affronted. "Hey, _I'm_ the one on top!" Jaune lost his battle to hold his laughter back, bursting into guffaws at Sun's insulted tone. Sun just glared at the other blonde, before putting on a sickly sweet tone. "What are you laughing at, Jauney boy? You do know I'm the one who got the whip for Pyrrha, right?"

Ruby and Coco blinked, as Jaune froze in place, his face flushing beet red as he studiously avoided looking directly at anyone else on the Bullhead. Coco coughed for a moment, before scooting closer to Jaune, putting on an innocent look. "So, Jaune, what was that about a whip hmm?" Jaune's face twisted as though he'd swallowed a melon, before a strange calm came over it as his grin turned wicked.

"You think that's bad, you should ask Ruby what I caught her making in her workshop one day." All eyes turned to Ruby, who shrugged sheepishly.

"What can I say, Weiss likes handcuffs…and armor." Coco lost it, slapping her knee, ignoring the pain that shot through her as tears started falling from her eyes.

"You wear _armor_ to bed? I know they say you should use protection, but _damn_!" Coco managed to choke out through her laughter. Ruby arched an eyebrow at Coco, her smile turning a bit sultry.

"Coco, didn't you ever wonder where Velvet got her wonderful toys and ideas from? Who do you think taught her what the word 'dominatrix' means?" Coco's laughter shut off, eyes going wide as she stared at Ruby. Sun and Jaune gaped at Ruby, disbelieving, as the red-head smirked at them. Rolling her eyes, she gave an indulgent smile. "Oh come on, I didn't _demonstrate_! I just told her what to do, gave her some books, and made a couple things at her request. That's all."

Jaune held his hands up in a placating manner. "Ok, I think this is reaching the too much information portion of our flight. I know way more about you guys than I ever wanted to know already. I don't need more than this."

Ruby shrugged, still smirking. "I don't mind bragging about the fun me and my sexy wife get up to. But if it's disturbing your poor virgin ears Jaune, I guess I can keep it and my gorgeous lover to myself."

Sun scoffed at Ruby. "Weiss is a good looking woman, but sorry Red, Neptune is the hottest, by far. He-"

Coco jumped in, cutting Sun off abruptly. "You two think you got the best? Psh. You got nothing. Velv's may be a rabbit faunus, but in bed she's a wildcat. And she has the _best_ ass."

"Oh come on. Her ass is nowhere near as good as Pyrrha's. And have you seen Pyrrha's abs? She can bench press me without breaking a sweat!" Jaune threw out, getting drawn into the argument.

"Abs? Hello, _I_ have the best abs in the house!" Sun flexed, before his eyes widened in pain as he fell back into his seat with a hiss. Ruby placed her hand on his shoulder worriedly.

"Hey, whoa, watch it! You're still banged up Sun. Don't go getting yourself more hurt, or else Neptune'll skin you…plus my abs are better than yours anyways." Sun glared at Ruby, before giving her a gentle playful shove, making sure not to hit her side.

"Yeah, whatever you say Red." Before Sun could continue, the loudspeaker crackled on.

"Attention. We will be landing in front of the Schnee Estate in two minutes. Please be certain you are seated and prepared for landing. And good luck." The pilot cut off the intercom, but his amusement at what was waiting for them (having spoken with Azure before leaving) was clear in his voice. All four gulped in unison, their nerves returning in full as they dreaded the reaction of their significant others.

A moment later, the Bullhead shuddered as it touched down. The back of the Bullhead slowly opened up, a large metal place swinging down to act as a ramp. The four shared a quick glance, standing slowly and haltingly taking steps off the Bullhead, both out of nerves and out of injury. Ruby had to use Sun as a crutch with her splinted leg, limping along gamely. As the bright afternoon sunlight blinded them momentarily, they squinted to get a better view, although that view was quickly blocked off by running figures.

Coco found herself nearly knocked over as a clearly tipsy, teary, somewhat unbalanced Velvet smashed into her, squeezing her tightly as Coco bit her tongue to avoid cursing in pain. Fox and Yatsuhashi were standing to the side, with the larger of the two holding a medical bag at his side, waiting for Velvet to calm down, as Fox casually held a recorder in his hand, recording their reunion for future blackmail. He owed Coco for that one time with the ketchup, after all.

Sun found himself lifted off the ground by Neptune, his ribs in danger of being broken like Ruby's were from the force Neptune was putting on him. Sage slapped him on the back, relieved he was back, before apologizing profusely as Sun hissed in pain. Neptune rounded on Sage, growling, making both Sage and the newly arrived Scarlet back off in fear.

Jaune, luckily, was not being squeezed, but the way Pyrrha was patting him down looking for injuries was somewhat embarrassing for him, not that the others noticed. Ren was quietly filling a syringe with another dose of painkillers for Jaune, as Nora pranced around him, curiously glancing at his injuries. Nora began sending rapid fire questions at Jaune about what the fight was like, while Pyrrha kept asking him how he felt and where it hurt. Jaune just sighed, rolling his eyes skyward.

Ruby found herself held in a soft embrace, Weiss being very cautious of Ruby's wounds…but it did not save her ears. Weiss had not yet stopped lecturing Ruby on _daring_ to get herself hurt, even as she kept gently stroking Ruby's hair in worry. Yang had one arm around Ruby's shoulder, her face showing her clear relief at her sister's safe return, as Blake smiled happily at the younger girl.

The sound of the Bullhead lifting off once more brought everyone back to their senses momentarily, with Weiss immediately taking charge. "Okay, let's get them to their rooms. You four are on house arrest until you're recovered. Don't you dare argue, we voted on this!" All four leaders, who had opened their mouths to protest, shut them at her tone and the confirmations from the rest of the gathers hunters. Ruby sent one pleading glance back at her fellow team leaders, only to see them sharing the same look as they were dragged into the house.

* * *

"Oh come on Nep, I can peel my own bananas!" Sun groused, sitting up in his bed with his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the twinge of pain from his side.

Neptune glared at Sun as he finished peeling the banana in his hand, shoving it in Sun's mouth, muffling his complaints. "Shut up Sun. I said I'm taking care of you, so deal with it you loud-mouthed monkey. Now eat your banana and stay still, I have to replace your bandages." Sun munched on the banana, eyes narrowed as he glared silently at Neptune, the blue-haired man turning around to gather up medical supplies. A hint of mischief appeared in Sun's eyes as he finished the fruit, as he reached out and smacked Neptune on the rear loudly. Chuckling to himself as Neptune spun around, face contorted in rage, Sun barely dodged Neptune's attempt to hit him upside the head. "Dammit Sun! Stop acting like an idiot! You're not getting any until you're fully healed, you do realize that right?"

Sun stopped laughing, mouth gaping as he stared at Neptune. "Hey I don't recall agreeing to that!"

Neptune sniffed haughtily. "Yeah well, I don't recall agreeing to you getting your tail set on fire either, but apparently we don't agree on a lot right now!"

Sun grumbled under his breath, only subsiding at the glare Neptune gave him, before sighing dramatically. "Ok fine, fine. I guess I can enjoy you spoiling me for a bit." Sun winked at Neptune, his grin spreading across his face as the blue-haired boy cocked an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. Just remember, you owe me."

* * *

"Hey Velv's, can ya get me something stronger than this tea?"

"You are not drinking anything alcoholic while you're recovering."

"Aww c'mon, that's not fair. You were drunk half the time I was gone! I never got a drop!"

"I didn't fight giant mutant lizard Grimm."

"It wasn't like they gave me much of a choice!"

"I don't care. Besides, I put on the nurse's uniform, what more do you want?"

Coco smiled lecherously at Velvet, tipping her new sunglasses down to wink at the rabbit faunus. "Why yes, yes you did. It looks great on you, by the way. It'd look better off though."

Velvet narrowed her eyes at Coco, before smiling with a far too innocent to be believed smile. "Well, if you want to see it off, you have to behave. And if you behave _really_ well, you'll get a treat. Or ten."

Coco slowly removed her sunglasses entirely, gazing up at Velvet with a sultry grin. "Can I get a reward now for good behavior?"

Velvet giggled. "Nope! You get to wait. But don't worry, I'll have plenty of toys you've never seen before to be used!" Velvet poked Coco's nose as she giggled, but stopped when Coco grabbed onto her finger and held tight, smirking.

"Speaking of toys…" Velvet gulped at the look on Coco's face, a strange cross of sensuality and amusement. "Ruby told me something _very_ interesting on the flight here. Where did you get those toys again?"

Velvet chuckled nervously, before pulling her hand away from Coco's and casually backing away from the bed, arms crossed behind her back. "Um…oh sorry, I forgot I need to get your dinner! I'll be back later!" Velvet disappeared out the door, leaving Coco to roll her eyes and smirk.

* * *

Jaune waited with trepidation as Pyrrha approached slowly, carefully balancing a large tray covered in plates and bowls. He had utter faith and confidence in her balance…she was always incredibly balanced at all times. What he was concerned about was the actual food on the tray. Pyrrha was many things…graceful, intelligent, a master strategist, kind, composed, a consummate warrior…but a chef was not one of them. For all the fact that Jaune lived and worked with multiple talented huntsman and huntresses, he still to this day could not understand how every single one of them besides himself and Ren utterly _sucked_ at cooking!

Oh sure, Blake and Velvet could do some cooking, although nothing complicated. Yang was surprisingly good at a couple of small things, mostly due to her having to take care of Ruby as a child. Weiss had forced herself to learn how to bake, and had become quite the skilled baker to make sure she could take care of her wife's sweet tooth. But the only ones capable of making anything remotely more complex were Jaune and Ren. Which is why after Pyrrha's last attempt at making him food, Jaune had secretly asked Ren to keep an eye on her. Peering past Pyrrha was subtly as he could, Jaune caught Ren's eye as he stood by the door. Ren gave a shrug, waggling his hands to indicate he was unsure, leading Jaune to give an exasperated huff and return his gaze to his wife as she calmly set the tray down on the table next to their shared bed.

"Don't worry Jaune, I followed the instructions exactly this time! And I didn't mix up tablespoon and teaspoon!" Pyrrha smiled brightly at her husband as he tried to keep a warm smile on his face, but the apprehension made it slightly difficult. Jaune was a pretty bad liar in most cases, but faced with his wife, his lying skills may as well have been non-existent. Giving a strained smile, he accepted the small bowl she handed to him, and took the spoon up.

Looking down into the bowl of what he assumed was meant to be chicken noodle soup (he wasn't sure why, considering he wasn't sick, just banged up), it _looked_ ok. Taking a quick sniff, it smelled ok. Shrugging, Jaune decided it could not possibly be worse than her last attempt, and took a quick spoonful. Pyrrha watched anxiously, seated nervously on the edge of his bed with a wide, innocent smile, hoping she got it right.

Jaune took a brief moment to stay frozen in place, before carefully handing the bowl to Pyrrha. She took it with a worried glance as Jaune gulped, shaking his head slightly. "Pyrrha…why did you put chili powder in the soup?"

"The book said hot soup was good for someone who was convalescing! And Nora said the best way to make it hot was to add spice."

Jaune looked at the door, glaring at Ren, who shrugged sheepishly before nodding his head at Nora, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet, a huge grin stretched across her face. Jaune sighed, before turning to Pyrrha, noting the worried expression on her face.

"Pyrrha, can you get me some milk? Make that a lot of milk. I'll just sit here and finish the soup." Pyrrha's smile returned, giving Jaune a quick kiss on his forehead, before darting out of the room. Nora dashed after her, squealing gleefully about how much Jaune loved her soup ingredient, joined by Pyrrha as the two chattered on as they left for the kitchen. Jaune picked up the bowl and brought it back to his lap. Looking at Ren, he shrugged. "It's actually not bad, other than the kick. But _why_ in Dust's name did you let Nora get involved?"

Ren blushed slightly, scuffing his feet and looking at the floor. "I didn't _let_ her…she…distracted me."

"How the hell did she distract you?"

Ren coughed, refusing to look at Jaune as his blush deepened. "Well, um…she uh…wasn't…wearing certain items of clothing that you would normally wear around the house."

Jaune blinked rapidly at Ren, before slamming his palm into his forehead. The force made him knock over the bowl in his lap, spilling the still hot soup all over his lap, making him yelp in pain. " _Ow!_ Mother blasted dust be damned piece of fucking _argh!_ "

* * *

" _Weeeeiiisssssssssssyyyyyyy,_ " Ruby whined, stretching Weiss' name out as much as possible, tremendous pout on her face. "Come on! I should repair Crescent Rose or she'll think I abandoned her!"

"It's a weapon Ruby, not a living object! She…ugh, I mean Crescent Rose will not think you abandoned her, she doesn't think!" Weiss threw her hands up in the air, before crossing them over her chest as she glared at her wife. She pointed one finger at Ruby sternly. "And you little missy are not moving your cute little ass out of that bed until I say so! Your leg is still broken in two places and you have six cracked ribs! Not to mention the concussion!"

"But Weiss, I'm bored! It's so boring in here! Can't I at least have one of my smaller projects? Oh, like the automatic dust reloader I'm making for Myrtenaster! Come on, you'd want that right?"

" _What?!_ When did I say you could make modifications to Myrtenaster?!"

"…when you married me? You told me long ago I could only touch Myrtenaster after we got married, remember?"

Weiss' eye twitched as the memories flooded back from what felt like ages ago, before she sighed, rubbing her temple. "Ok, fine. But I am not bringing any of your crazy projects into this room, you'll just hurt yourself more. You barely remember to eat when you get caught up in tinkering with something or other! You are staying in that bed if I have to tie you to it!"

Ruby smirked at Weiss, her lips curving in a way Weiss was very familiar with. "Oh? I thought you preferred to be tied to the bed."

Weiss sputtered, a light pink dusting her cheeks as she glanced around subconsciously, making sure no one was around to hear that even though the door was closed and the room had been soundproofed long ago. "Y-You shut your face, dolt! Now is not the time to be talking about that, you're far too wounded to be taking part in such strenuous…" Weiss trailed off as a thought hit her, before a devious grin came across her face. She cocked her head to the side as she looked over her wife, staring for long enough that Ruby fidgeted nervously. Weiss slowly strode over to the bed, swaying her hips as she walked, before sitting down next to Ruby. Smirk still on her face, she kissed Ruby gently for a brief moment. "Ruby, darling, you always treat me so well, like I'm your queen. I think it's your turn." Ruby's confusion shown clearly on her face, as Weiss stood up and winked at her. "I'll be right back."

Weiss disappeared into their shared closet to the left, the light blinking on as she walked into it. Ruby craned her neck to try to see into it, but she wasn't at the right angle to get a view. Ruby heard Weiss rummaging through something, before a quiet 'aha' came from the older girl. Ruby clearly heard shuffling of clothing, before the light clicked off and Weiss stepped out. Ruby froze in place, head still tilted awkwardly, as she stared at the sight of Weiss in a far too skimpy maid uniform. Though a faint blush was on Weiss' face, she still smirked at Ruby. "Do you need anything Mistress Rose?"

Ruby shook her head to clear it, her hair swishing before her eyes, before her own smile slowly spread across her face. Saying nothing, she just beckoned Weiss closer with her finger. Maybe she couldn't do much work with her injuries, but no one said she couldn't lie back and let someone else take charge for once.


	7. Why is it Cute?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I'm back with another chapter, but this one probably goes the farther off canon of anything I've written so far. But for some reason, this idea wouldn't leave me alone, so...yeah. Apologies for how crazy this chapter really is compared to canon. Also, long note at the bottom of this chapter, mostly some musings but some important information about the future of my writing that some may be interested in. Since its long, thats why its at the end, just in case you don't really care. :D
> 
> Disclaimer-I don't own Ruby.

Yang and Blake had finally settled on a date. Three months out, in the late spring. Most of the planning had been accomplished with little to no fuss, unless you count the explosive cake tasting, the argument over tuna, the fight over who got which girls as bridesmaids (the girls were very glad when that was over...Ruby still was sad over her favorite shirt being ripped by that), or that time with the lingerie and Yang and Blake forgetting where they were at...but either way, everyone was happy that time was over. Of course none of the fights were true fights, the black and yellow pair were still too hyped up to be angry with each other, but considering the power that they held in their hands, the estate had not survived entirely intact. (Sandy made enough that he could have, had he so chosen, retired already simply from that time frame alone.)

But with everything settled down, the hunters of the Schnee Estate began to go back to their normal lives. Which for Ruby, meant hunting. Ruby had left on a weeklong hunt, tracking down some Beowulf packs in Vacuo. With Blake and Yang still having far too much wedding jitters to think straight, and her wife busy with an acquisition, Ruby went alone, confident in her abilities. Which was why, when she returned, seemingly perfectly healthy and in high spirits (if a bit nervous), no one thought anything of it.

* * *

"Ruby? Sweetie? Are you down here?" Weiss called, knocking on the door to the workshop. The loud metallic clangs as her knuckles rapped on the door. Ruby had only been back a day, but had already holed herself up in her workshop. Weiss, not that she would ever admit it out loud, was feeling a little abandoned after not seeing her wife for a week. Hearing a strange yelp, followed by a loud crash, Weiss frowned for a moment before Ruby's voice called out.

"Weiss? I'll be out in just a moment!" Weiss sighed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ruby, I can just come in you know. It's not like I haven't seen the workshop before."

"No no, I'll come to you! Just a sec!" A loud clatter sounded, of metal ringing on metal, making Weiss twitch as the sound rang in her ears. For a split second Weiss could swear she heard a small bark, but she knew Zwei was upstairs somewhere so she had to be hearing things. Ruby whispered something to herself, followed by a quick flurry of noise that Weiss recognized as the telltale sounds of Ruby's semblance. Rolling her eyes, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest.

The door to the workshop clicked open and slid to the side, revealing a slightly flustered Ruby, her face red as she panted slightly. A few beads of sweat rolled down her face as she grinned at Weiss, cocking her head to the side. "Hey Weiss! Whatcha doing down here?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow at Ruby. "I can't come visit my wife when I get home from work?"

Ruby chuckled nervously, running her hand through her hair as she looked away shiftily. "O-Of course you can! I just was wondering if there was a special reason is all!"

"Ruby, what are you hiding from me?" Weiss' blunt tone threw Ruby for a loop, making the younger woman gape for a second before shaking her head.

"I'm not hiding anything!"

Weiss gave Ruby a disbelieving look, one elegant eyebrow arched as she stared at her wife. Ruby froze for a brief moment, before a sly smile crossed her face. Weiss' eyebrow twitched, a bit curious as to what that smile meant. A flurry of rose petals appeared before her face, making her snort indelicately as she brushed the petals away, attempting to glare at Ruby but finding herself unable to. Weiss' jaw dropped at the sight of Ruby, stripped down to her lacy underwear, the only other item of clothing her slowly moving cloak over her shoulder. The red fabric kept slowly moving back and forth, occasionally blocking Weiss' view of Ruby's tanned skin and lean muscles etched into her form. Weiss' brain shut down entirely, expression dumbfounded, as Ruby smirked at her and slowly placed her hand beneath Weiss' jaw.

"Since you're home, and no one else is down here…maybe we should christen the workshop?"

Weiss gulped, shaking her head to try to clear the fog Ruby's long, limber legs had put into it. "W-We can't! Anyone could come down her at any time!"

Ruby slowly slide closer, wrapping her arms carefully around Weiss, still smirking as she breathed into her ear. "Well that's why I have an override code to lock the door, silly."

Weiss shook slightly in Ruby's arms, trying to breathe through her mouth to avoid breathing in the rosy scent of her wife. "R-Ruby! We can't! This isn't proper!"

The purr in Ruby's voice made Weiss weak in her knees, as Ruby gently nipped at her neck. "Screw being proper. Let's have some fun." Ruby solved the problem by yanking Weiss into the workshop, smirking at her wife as she slammed her hand on the close button, making the door slide shut behind the two women.

* * *

Sun yawned widely, stretching his arms above his head as he wandered sleepily through the halls. Sun was a very light sleeper, and often woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty. He was walking down to the kitchen of the Schnee estate for his three AM cup of tea to help him get back to sleep, eyes half open as he trudged along. Neptune slept like a log, nearly incapable of being awoken by anything short of an explosion, so Sun didn't feel too bad leaving his boyfriend behind in the bed.

As he slowly went down the stairs, too tired to execute his normal rail slides or flips off the upper floors, his eyes noted the light spilling out from the kitchen doorway. Someone else was awake? Rubbing his fists in his eyes to clear the sleep from them, his sensitive ears caught the murmur of Ruby's distinct voice, along with a small yipping noise. _'Ah, it's just Ruby and Zwei…wait…there's no scent?'_ Sun blinked, confused as he sniffed the air again. For some reason, although he clearly heard the scrabble of claws, he couldn't pick up any scent. Sun shook his head, determinedly marching towards the doorway, not bothering to be quiet. It was just Ruby anyways.

"Hey Red, whatcha doing up so late?" Sun quipped as he neared the doorway, chuckling to himself as Ruby yelped, not unlike Zwei, as she appeared in the door of the kitchen in a flurry of petals.

"Oh, hey Sun!" Ruby casually waved one hand at him, the other behind her back as she smiled widely at him. "Just was getting a quick snack! And now back to my lovely wife!"

Before Sun could react, a strong gust of wind nearly spun him around as Ruby dashed past him, up the stairs, and disappearing down the halls. Sun shook his head, blinking rapidly. He muffled another yawn beneath his hand as he glanced in the direction Ruby had disappeared, seeing the telltale trail of rose petals leading up the stairs and down the second floor hallway to the North wing. Sun cocked his head, humming to himself as he realized that Ruby and Weiss' room was in the South wing on the fourth floor. Narrowing his eyes, he contemplated following the trail, but the dryness of his throat and the fact he managed to run headfirst into the doorframe while letting his mind wander made him set that notion aside. He'd figure it out eventually. For now, his tea, his bed, and his boyfriend awaited.

* * *

Fox slowly ran his finger over the smooth glass rod before him, carefully getting a mental measurement before taking a piece of tape from next to the rod and placing it at the exact halfway point. Reaching to his left, he lifted up the small metal tube and set it perpendicular to his worktable. Running his hand over the top of the tube, he located the six equidistant holes ringing a set of three inner and one center one. Lifting up the rod, he carefully lowered it into the center hole until he felt the edge of the tape meet the edge of the hole. Holding it in place with one hand, he quickly felt around the tube for a small screw, quickly twisting it to lock the rod in place. Smiling to himself, he reached out for the next rod when he heard a rustle from behind him, where he knew Ruby's worktable was. Picking up on the not so subtle scent of roses, Fox let his smooth voice roll out.

"What's up, Ruby?"

Ruby shrugged, before mentally slapping herself as she reminded herself once more that though Fox didn't seem blind in the slightest, he was. "Not much, just wondering what you're working on. It looks neat!"

Fox snorted, not pausing as he began placing another glass rod. "You know Ruby, I'm not a Faunus. But I do have an enhanced sense of hearing and scent. You know that, right?"

"Yeah?" Ruby glanced at Fox, confused.

"So the next time you and your wife wanna fuck on the equipment, could you possibly spray some air freshener afterwards?"

Sage, studying some schematics at his desk, burst into laughter, nearly falling out of his chair as Ruby went as red as her namesake, eyes wide, sputtering uncontrollably. Fox continued in a deadpan tone, addressing his next comment to Sage. "I'm assuming she's blushing?"

"Y-yeah!" Sage managed to choke out, before he was cut off by his own laughter again. Wiping tears from his eyes and taking a deep breath, he giggled. "She looks like a damned tomato!"

"I'll assume that comparison means something," Fox drawled. He long ago got over his blindness, and he supposed it was something of a compliment that he was so skilled his friends completely forgot he was blind. It was a bit refreshing…none of them ever pitied him, they simply treated him as another person. It was the main reason he'd chosen to live with them all. That and the fact they let him play with explosives at will now. Coco had a strict rule in the dorms, ever since that tiny incident with the whipped cream and exploding pies, he wasn't allowed to do anything involving explosives. Realizing he had let his mind wander, he placed the last rod, tightening the screw as he continued in a deadpan tone. "As for what this is…it's a device to attempt to detect large quantities of pheromones and Aura in the ambient atmosphere. In other words, it's a warning device to warn that people either fucked recently or are about ten seconds away from tearing each other's clothes off. I feel like this building is a minefield anymore."

Smirking, he listened as Ruby continued to sputter, chuckling to himself. Spinning about in his chair, he fixed his eyes on the general location he knew Ruby to be at. Leaning back in his chair, he arched an eyebrow. "And what are you up to?"

Sage interrupted before Ruby could reply, panting slightly as he tried to get his breath under control. "She's making some kinda collar for Zwei I guess. It's got all this weird shit on it though. No clue what it's supposed to do."

"It's a tracking collar! You know, he wanders off a lot…" Ruby trailed off, her voice slightly quavering nervously.

Fox narrowed his unseeing eyes in her direction, before shrugging. "Ok Rubes. Whatever you say."

* * *

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Yang asked, leaning over the back of the couch Pyrrha was currently sitting on.

Pyrrha lifted her eyes up from her book to look at Yang. "Yes?"

Yang grinned widely, eyes flashing red for a brief moment. "Wanna go workout?" Pyrrha's slow smile spread across her face, nodding in response. Yang did a fist-pump, happy that Pyrrha had been available. The only other person who would even bother trying Yang's punishing workout regimen more than once had been Pyrrha, who also was the only person who could keep up with Yang during it. Yang had at one point managed to get everyone to try it, but only Pyrrha was ever willing to keep doing it. The two bonded more during their workout sessions than at any other time, readily talking about whatever came to mind as they spotted each other. And well, Yang wasn't going to lie, Pyrrha certainly wasn't bad to look at. But Pyrrha gave as good as she got, sending the same casual flirts right back at Yang. Neither Blake nor Jaune ever minded, they knew it was all in good fun, plus it wasn't like they disagreed with any of the comments made.

A commotion from down the hallway grabbed their attention, as they heard a loud bark from Zwei followed by a low growl. Zwei came tearing down the hallway, barking all the way, his short stubby legs moving overtime as he sped into the room. Leaping up, he bounded onto the arm of the couch, bouncing off it again and landing in Pyrrha's startled lap, before leaping again to clear the other arm. Pyrrha's attention was completely on Zwei's strange behavior, so she only turned back to look the other direction when Yang shouted in shock.

A _tiny_ Beowulf was dashing towards them, barely bigger than Zwei, with a mask that strangely was far more red than white. Red eyes glowing, it barked just like Zwei, following his exact path and leaping onto the couch, landing in Pyrrha's lap. Before either she or Yang could react, it leapt off single-mindedly, ignoring the two huntresses entirely. It shorted its leap, tripping over the edge of the couch, landing mask first on the ground and letting out a pitiful yelp.

Frozen in shock, the two huntresses could only stare at the grounded miniature Beowulf, before their eyes lifted to see Zwei dashing back into the room, skidding to a halt next to the tiny Grimm. Panting, Zwei cocked his head at the Beowulf, nudging it with his cold nose. The little Grimm patted Zwei on the nose, getting back to its feet, suddenly dropping to all fours and running back the way it had come. Zwei barked happily and began chasing after it, his claws scrabbling for purchase on the hardwood floor for a moment. As Zwei slid, he ran into an end table, knocking a vase full of brightly colored flowers off, before getting his footing and dashing back after the Beowulf.

As the sounds of the two chasing each other faded, Pyrrha and Yang slowly turned to lock eyes, jaws agape and blinking, unable to process. The sounds of frantically running feet hit their ears, as Weiss came skidding into the room from another door, looking around desperately. Spotting Yang and Pyrrha, she dashed over, panting.

"Have you two seen some weird mini Beowulf?" Her frantic tone and wide, frightened eyes broke the two out of the spell they were under.

"Yes! It just ran off with Zwei! They were…playing?" Yang questioned, glancing at Pyrrha for confirmation, the amazon nodding. Weiss bent over slightly, taking a deep breath as she rested her palms on her side, before straightening up.

"Help me catch that thing! I don't know how it got in here, but we have to stop it! It chewed my favorite heels!" The rage in her voice as she spoke of the heels made Yang and Pyrrha lean back slightly, before nodding agreement frantically when Weiss looked back at them.

* * *

Weiss, Pyrrha, and Yang tore down the hallways, listening for telltale sounds of barks or yips. Pyrrha slid into the main foyer, eyes locking onto the target, seeing the little Beowulf…playing with a ball? Pyrrha blinked, before pulling out Milo and taking quick aim. She fired off a shot, the loud crack of the bullet from her rifle echoing through the house. Bullets being fired inside the main area of the estate was unusual, as most of the roughhousing with guns did occur either in the workshop, firing range, or outdoors. The bullet sped towards the unsuspecting Grimm just as Weiss and Yang entered the room, hitting him dead on with Pyrrha's impeccable aim. But the three were stunned into silence when a brief flare of light happened as it hit before the bullet was _deflected_ entirely.

" _What?!_ That was Aura! Grimm don't have Aura!" Weiss shrieked, the shrill sound making Pyrrha, Yang, and the little Grimm cover their ears in pain. The little Beowulf saw the three of them standing there and cocked its head at them, before its eyes flashed slightly. It suddenly leapt up, bounding towards them on all four, its tongue lolling out as it sped across the floor incredibly fast. It locked eyes with Weiss and barked as it ran, making Weiss immediately draw Myrtenaster and begin to take her ready position. Holding her blade before her to defend from the incoming attack, she was stunned when the little Grimm slid to a stop at her feet, plopping its behind on the ground and looking up at her calmly.

Yang bent down, slowly extending her finger towards the little Grimm, keeping her Aura concentrated just in case. The Grimm didn't move at all as her hand approached, just casually sat, panting slightly. Just as Yang touched the cool mask on its head, it suddenly yipped, making Yang leap back as it jumped to its hind feet and…hugged Weiss' leg?!

The three stood stock still, Weiss' eye twitching, as the little Grimm began to nuzzle Weiss' leg, letting out a little bark before it let go and dashed back to its ball. The three huntresses stared as it casually picked up the ball in its two front paws and tottered over to them, before dropping it at their feet and dropping to all fours again, hind end wriggling as it kept its eyes locked on the ball.

Before the trio could react, a blur of red appeared in front of them, scooping up the tiny Grimm. The little Beowulf yipped happily, clambering onto Ruby's shoulders and sitting on them, licking her cheek. Ruby looked at the trio, smiling sheepishly. Weiss' eye twitched once more, but she seemed so in shock she couldn't articulate anything but a choking noise, so Yang did it for her.

" _Ruby! What…the…fuck!?_ " Yang exclaimed, hands in the air. Pyrrha just slammed her palm into her forehead, looking skyward with a 'why me' expression.

Ruby giggled nervously, looking down at the ground as she scuffed her foot. "Well…I cleared out that Beowulf pack on my last mission, and then I heard a weird crying noise, so I went looking, and…well…he was there! And he was so little, and he wasn't being mean, and he just looked up at me and I'd just killed his mommy so I felt bad and-"

"Grimm don't have mommies! Or daddies! They are Grimm!" Weiss exclaimed, finally able to speak through her utter disbelief.

"Well how else do you explain Drei?!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the Grimm that was now snoring gently on her shoulder.

"You…named it?" Pyrrha asked, disbelief dripping from her voice.

"Of course I did! Anyways, you're not letting me finish my story! So, I was looking at him, and confused cause I've never seen such a tiny Beowulf, when its eyes went all glowy! Next thing I knew, it latched onto my leg and hugged me, and suddenly its mask went from the normal white to the way it is now, all red! And he has an Aura somehow! He also doesn't seem to need to eat…it's weird. But he and Zwei are best friends now too! Isn't he cute?" Ruby yanked the slumbering Grimm off her shoulder, holding it up before the trio with her hands under its arms, nearly shoving him in Weiss' face.

Weiss stared down at the tiny Beowulf, stone-faced, sweat slightly rolling down her face as she stared at its peacefully slumbering face. Her jaw twitched slightly as it shuffled in its sleep, grumbling a tiny bit. When it opened its mouth and let out a large, sleepy yawn, Weiss broke.

"Argh! Why is this thing so cute?!" Weiss ranted, before reaching out and cooing at it as she pet the smooth mask. It wriggled in Ruby's arms, opening its eyes, before yipping happily, reaching out for Weiss. Weiss' jaw dropped, locking eyes with Ruby, the red-head shrugging happily before handing him over to Weiss. Immediately, Drei latched onto Weiss and hugged her, nuzzling into her coat. Weiss sighed, unable to be angry, but she locked eyes with Ruby. "Ruby, it's a Grimm."

"But he's so cute!"

Weiss' eye twitched again, before letting out a long suffering sigh. "Let's call Doctor Oobleck and talk to him about this. Maybe he knows something we don't."

* * *

"Fascinating! Wonderful! Simply incredible! I always wondered if I would get a chance to see an example of bonding in action! This is stupendous!" The green-haired man, still an esteemed professor at Beacon, ranted as he marched around wildly before his scroll, arms flailing in the air as he expressed his excitement. The four women rolled their eyes as one, well used to his antics, but not patient enough to wait.

"Bonding?" Weiss asked, trying to keep him on task.

Oobleck coughed, before returning to the scroll. "Yes, yes, of course. My apologies Mrs. Schnee. Bonding, also sometimes called imprinting, is an unusual set of circumstances where a young Beowulf or Ursa will latch onto a hunter. They will actually connect their existence to the hunter's Aura, which also means they have an Aura. You must not think of it as a drain, however. Strangely, it has been shown to improve a hunter's aura strength! Also, they gain many personality traits of the hunter themselves."

Yang leaned over and nudged Weiss. "That explains why he wants to snuggle you so much, eh?" Weiss glared at Yang, shoving her off as she and Ruby blushed, Drei still nestled in Weiss' arms.

Weiss sighed, turning her attention back to the screen. "So, is it dangerous?"

Oobleck shook his head rapidly, waving his hand dismissively. "No. In the past, the only danger came from the fact that Grimm do not die of natural causes, so they remain young and playful for many years. Since he has latched onto Mrs. Rose, the only thing that will be an issue will be as he grows, he will remain as hyper as she does. The only time they seem to die is when the hunter they have attached themselves to does."

Weiss sighed, worried that was going to be his response. Glancing down at the slumbering Grimm, and then back at Ruby's wide eyed stare, she rolled her eyes heavenward. Yang chuckled behind her hand, already knowing where this was going as she nudged Pyrrha, the amazon sighing heavily. Weiss sighed again, letting her head fall as she muttered to Ruby "Ok, you can keep him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so...I'm really starting to get into writing nowadays. But its difficult to find time for it with my job, and also the fact I've been getting into doing videos for my guild in Neverwinter. But at the same time, I want to branch out a bit from RWBY. I was to re-write the awful Teen Titans fanfic I did long ago, I've got ideas for a Korrasami fic from Legend of Korra, and tons other of my favorite ships from all over I'd like to write for. But the problem is, of course, doing that would delay chapters on fics such as this one, which I don't particularly want to do to the readers who really like this work. I also want to novelize my recent DnD campaign that my group just finished in a FANTASTIC fashion, a truly epic tale from the lowest level to the highest, culminating in a battle for the fate of the entire world. I'd love to write it up, but thats another huge undertaking.
> 
>  
> 
> So I guess this is more of a warning that its possible things may get delayed slightly, as I start branching out into other works I'm really thinking of writing. I do apologize if this comes to pass, as I don't know for sure if it will, but just in case, sorry if it delays this a bit. But thank you all so much for reading, and I hope I can continue to write for you guys and you enjoy it. Thanks again! :D


	8. Equinox

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, here it is, a very anticipated chapter apparently. The Yang and Blake wedding. I struggled a bit with parts, but I'm really hoping everyone likes it. Its the longest single chapter I've ever written so far too, and so full of fluff I got cavities writing it, but so worth it. Anyways, here you are, the wedding itself.

The sun had barely risen, and yet the Schnee Estate was abuzz with activity. As soon as the dawn broke, Yang and Blake were dragged to separate ends of the mansion, Pyrrha and Nora with Yang, Coco and Velvet with Blake. Locked up in rooms so they couldn't see each other, the girls not getting married kept making runs for snacks, books, or movies all morning, to keep the two brides-to-be distracted as the rest of the house worked overtime to get ready. Yang and Blake had agreed they wouldn't do as wedding rehearsal as most couples did, preferring to be surprised, as they also would be walking to the altar together (albeit blindfolded) and would only see each other at the same time.

Weiss was in her element, rushing around with her commanding voice and presence, critiquing everything done and exhorting everyone to more effort. Butlers and maids scurried about, brushing everything down and polishing as many surfaces as possible, as Sandy's repair company had begun constructing the dais in the backyard.

Jaune and Ren had been up hours before dawn, commandeering the kitchen instantly and barring anyone from entering. Yatsuhashi was standing guard outside the door, both to keep people out, and to relay messages from Jaune or Ren if they needed more ingredients, which Weiss would instantly shoot someone off to fetch. The two men were a flurry of motion, ingredients scattered about the kitchen as they rushed to cater the event. Though Weiss had offered to hire caterers, Ren had simply sniffed haughtily as Jaune explained that the two men felt obligated to handle this themselves. Jaune didn't have a good explanation why, shrugging when asked, but Ren simply said they felt they owed Yang and Blake this. Jaune had nodded along, sharing a smile with Ren, as the two had gone back to reviewing the list Yang and Blake had provided.

Fox and Sage were in the back, hanging precariously from ladders and wires as they strung up lines of intricate lights from the back of the house to the dais being set up by Sandy's company. While the lights were fairly simple to install, the special prize they had built with Ruby's help was much more complex, requiring all of their attention to get it installed in time. Sun and Neptune were acting as runners for them, along with setting up the tables and chairs in between calls for their assistance from the two engineers. The grass had been covered by the device, a smooth, glass-like surface where all the chairs and the dais were being set, colored a deep purple.

Scarlet was sequestered in a room by himself, a grand piano before him as he quietly practiced the notes. Though he knew the music by heart, he had insisted he be given the morning to practice more, as he refused to let a mistake happen during the wedding. He had been very touched when Yang and Blake had asked him if he would play for them, and was determined that it would be perfect. The past week had been nothing but rehearsals for him of multiple songs, determined to be prepared.

Ruby had gone out front, both to get a breath of fresh air, and to greet the first guests arriving. Already dressed, she anxiously fidgeted with her shimmering black dress, unsure if full black looked good on her, but Yang wanted her bridesmaids to wear black, just as Blake's were in yellow. Blake and Yang had fought very strongly over Ruby and Weiss, in the end compromising and splitting them up, Blake taking Weiss as her Maid of Honor and Yang taking Ruby. Ruby still grumbled under her breath at the fact they had ripped her favorite shirt tugging on her in an insane tug of war.

The sound of familiar heels clicking on the stairs alerted her to the presence of her wife, her sunny yellow dress swishing around her as she walked. Weiss casually placed her hand in Ruby's, squeezing gently as Ruby took a deep breath, turning to her wife with a smile. "Barely ten and already I'm exhausted."

Weiss giggled softly, hand over her mouth. "Well, it is flashier than ours was."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Well duh, we eloped, remember? You 'couldn't wait' to marry me."

Weiss scoffed at Ruby, a light pink dusting her cheeks. "Excuse you, it was you who wanted it 'as fast as possible'!"

"Yeah, but it was you who called us a private airship at two in the morning, flew us to Mistral without telling anyone, bought an entire hotel just so we could have privacy, and dragged an officiant into the hotel to marry us before the sun even rose."

Weiss giggled again, laying her head on Ruby's shoulder. "Yang and Blake were _so_ angry at us for that too."

Ruby laid her head on top of Weiss', squeezing her hand tightly as the two stood in the early morning sunlight. "Everyone was. My dad was so angry but so happy that he didn't know what to do. Just spent like an hour stuttering in shock." She smiled at the memory, still finding the sight of her father so flabbergasted utterly amusing. Speaking of her father…

Weiss gently extricated herself from Ruby as the car pulled up to the curb, keeping their fingers interlocked as Taiyang levered himself out of the passenger's seat, grinning up at the two women standing on the stairs. Qrow slid out of the driver's side, tossing the keys to the valet to park it in the underground garage as the two suited men started climbing the stairs. Taiyang swept the two of them up in his arms, squishing them both for a moment before setting them down.

"Oh you two look beautiful today! And at least I get to see one of my daughter's weddings this time!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "C'mon dad, are you ever gonna let me live that down?"

Taiyang smirked at her, eyes dancing merrily. "Nope! Anyways, this place looks great Weiss."

Weiss curtsied, smiling. She'd come to appreciate Tai a lot, much more than her own father. "Thank you, Tai. I'm glad you guys got here without any trouble."

Qrow's smooth voice rang out, a laugh barely held in. "Trouble, huh? Well, if you count getting lost three times counts as no trouble, sure."

Taiyang slugged Qrow in the shoulder, glaring at him. "Hey, its not my fault the map was wrong!"

"The map wasn't wrong, you looked at the wrong map first, then you turned that upside down, then when we finally got the right map you had that upside down!"

Tai just pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and grumbling under his breath. The other three giggled at him, before he finally sighed deeply and looked up, smiling at Ruby. "So, does anyone mind if I go see the brides?"

Weiss smiled at him and Qrow, gesturing for them to follow her as she went back inside. Ruby waved at them as they left, standing by the door to greet the next guest. Weiss led the two men to the staircase and quickly called over a butler. "Please, show these two to Yang's room."

Taiyang held up a hand for a moment. "Actually, I'd like to see Blake first, if that's ok. Qrow will go see Yang." Weiss blinked for a second, before shrugging, calling a second butler over to lead him to Blake's room.

* * *

Tai carefully knocked on the door, watching as it swung open revealing Coco, her omnipresent sunglasses tilted down as she looked him up and down. "Yes?"

"My name is Taiyang, I'm Yang and Ruby's father. May I talk to Blake?" Coco's expression cleared of its suspicion, a smile spreading across her face as she gestured for him to enter.

"Of course! My name is Coco. Let me and Velvet give you guys some privacy." Coco grabbed Velvet's arm and dashed out into the hallway with her, leaving Blake rolling her eyes as she stood up to greet him. Like he had done with Ruby and Weiss, Tai crushed Blake in his arms, hugging her tightly as she struggled to breathe. Releasing her, he smiled down softly at her.

"It's good to see you again, Blake."

Coughing for a moment, Blake gave her little half smile as she nodded back. She was sitting in a bathrobe, her two 'attendants' having refused to let her get dressed yet. "It's good to see you too Tai. But I thought you'd be with Yang."

Tai waved her off, sitting on the couch across from Blake. "I'll go see her in a minute. I wanted to talk to you first." Blake kept silent, waiting for Tai to continue. "Listen, Blake...years ago, I'm sure you remember what I asked of you and Weiss. And both of you gave me your word you'd keep my daughters happy. Truth is, you've gone so far beyond that I can't begin to express it. I can see it in their eyes, every time Ruby stands next to Weiss, every time Yang says your name…they love you two so much. And I see it right back from you. You girls went through so much more than anyone should, but together you've made so much of yourselves. Blake…I just came here to tell you I am so proud, not only of Yang, but of you. Today, you become my daughter just as Yang is, but truth is, you've been my daughter for years now. But let's make it official." Taiyang stood up, taking Blake's hand and pulling her to her feet, before bowing low before her. "Blake Belladonna, welcome to the family."

Blake tried to sniff back tears, but couldn't contain them, water dripping from her eyes as she chuckled helplessly, leaping forward to hug Taiyang tightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me Blake. Thank you." Gently, Tai pushed her back, offering her a clean handkerchief he whipped out from his pocket. Calmly, he wiped her tears off, letting her take the handkerchief as he smiled softly at her. "I'm going to go see my pain in the ass now. I'll see you when I give you her hand." Waving, he turned and left the room, Coco and Velvet quickly coming back in, finding a still blubbering but smiling Blake greeting them. Coco rolled her eyes as she started searching for her makeup kit, with Velvet trying to help Blake wipe the tears off.

* * *

Nora opened the door, her manic grin only spreading wider as she spotted Tai in the doorway. Slamming it open, she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled, her prodigious strength nearly yanking his arm from his socket as he stumbled into the room, hearing the low chuckle of Qrow and an exasperated sigh from Yang and Pyrrha.

"Nora! Don't break the poor man's arm!" Pyrrha exclaimed, rushing up to the two.

Tai chuckled, waving Pyrrha off. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Miss Valkyrie has not lost her enthusiasm I see."

"Aww Mr. Tai, you say the nicest things!" Nora beamed, before jolting forward as Pyrrha smacked her on the back. Looking back with a confused expression as the amazon, Pyrrha quickly grabbed Nora and dragged her into the hallway, leaving Tai with Qrow and Yang. Qrow stood up, patting off his pants as he set his mug of tea down, giving Yang a quick hug and peck on the cheek before strolling out, hands in pockets. Tai patted him on the shoulder as he passed, listening for the click of the door before he strolled over to Yang, arms out wide. Yang grinned, leaping up into her father's arms and wrapping her arms around his midsection as he wrapped his around her shoulders. Kissing her on the forehead, he sat down next to her.

"So how's my menace doing today?"

Yang grinned widely, visibly shaking. "She's getting married today!"

Tai let out a bark of laughter, before throwing an arm over Yang's shoulder and giving her a side hug. "That she is. At least I get to be at this one."

"You're never gonna let Ruby forget that, are you?" Yang rolled her eyes as Tai just smirked at her, winking. Leaning sideways so her head fell on his shoulder, she sighed heavily.

"Something wrong, Yang?"

Yang shook her head. "No. It's just…so overwhelming. I'm so excited, but I dunno how to express it. We've been together so long, you'd think this wouldn't phase me, but its different today. I dunno."

"Don't worry about it so much, oh daughter of mine. Today is going to be one of the best days of your life…your friends are making sure of that."

Yang snorted. "Yeah, I noticed. You'd think they were the ones getting married."

Taiyang patted her on the head gently, before messing with her hair playfully, listening as his daughter instinctually growled at him before realizing who it was, making Tai let out a tiny chuckle. "From the way they tell it, you and Blake weren't much better. Especially when you fought over who got who as a bridesmaid." Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes, but didn't bother trying to defend herself, well aware she and Blake had been a bit unreasonable at times. "Anyways, kiddo…I came here to tell you something." Yang slowly lifted her head off Tai's shoulder, looking up at him. He smiled down at her. "I just want you to know how happy I am for you, and how insanely proud I am. You've made yourself someone that Raven and Summer would be proud of. Qrow is, and I know I am. Just know Yang that I love you in the way only a parent ever could, and will always love you."

Yang squeezed her arms around her father's waist, hugging him tight as she buried her face in his shoulder for a moment, laughing through her tears. "I love you too Dad."

The pair stayed in the hug for a few more moments, before Tai gently extricated himself. "I'll be waiting for you at the aisle, kiddo. Don't be late." Smirking slightly, he sauntered off, holding the door open for Pyrrha and Nora as he and Qrow strolled off.

* * *

Weiss had gone back to organizing the event, leaving Ruby once more at the front door to greet guests. Although she did have to quickly dash back inside and try to convince Drei, (who had grown far more than expected in a few months) to stay in his room with Zwei. Luckily, although most Grimm were mindless, he was apparently far more intelligent than the average Grimm, and understood what Ruby was asking. It also helped that Zwei barked something at him which made him pick up the corgi and dash off with him towards their shared playroom. Ruby loved Drei to pieces, but she didn't feel like trying to explain him to everyone who arrived for the wedding.

The sounds of another car making its way down the broke her thought process. Stopping carefully before the door, the passenger side door slammed open as Penny came flying out of it, arms wide as she impacted Ruby, squealing in happiness while Ruby tried desperately to keep her ribs from cracking at the android's forceful hug.

"Friend Ruby! It is excellent to see you! I have missed you so! Oh where are friends Blake and Yang? I must greet them too!"

Ruby barely managed to pull Penny off her, coughing slightly. Smiling at her friend, she took in the carefully styled hair and shining jade dress, jaw gaping slightly. "Yang and Blake are in some waiting rooms to keep them separate for now. But geez Penny, you look great!"

Penny blushed, making Ruby wonder (not for the first time) how a robotic body could blush. "Thank you, Ruby! I am so happy Yang and Blake invited me!"

Ruby hugged Penny again, gently squeezing. "Of course they invited you. You're family. You know, you still can live here with us. The offer's still open."

Penny shook her head, grasping Ruby's hands in her own as she spoke earnestly. "I know you all asked me to, but I want to live alone for now. I want to make my own way. Besides, I will not be far for long, I am moving into Atlas next month! We can spend a lot of time together then! But, today is not for that, today is for Yang and Blake. May I go see them?" Penny smiled brightly at Ruby, eyes twinkling. Ruby nodded, smiling back at Penny, quickly kissing her on the cheek as Penny dashed into the mansion, her cheerful greetings to everyone echoing back to Ruby. Ruby chuckled to herself, before turning back to greet the next arrivals, their car just making its way down the drive rapidly.

Skidding to a stop before the door, the back driver's side door slammed open, a very disgruntled Glynda Goodwitch sliding out gracefully. Her silky, sapphire dress barely brushing above the ground as she stood to her full height, grumbling under her breath as Bartholomew Oobleck came dashing out of the driver's seat, greeting Ruby at the speed of light before zipping into the mansion. Ozpin levered himself out of the passenger's rear side, as Peter Port flounced out of the passenger side with his normal flair. Ruby smiled, starting forward, arms open slightly. "Professors! I'm so glad you could make it!"

Glynda smiled, taking Ruby's hand and shaking it warmly. "For the tenth time, it's just Glynda. I'm not your teacher anymore. You do look quite lovely today."

Ruby blushed slightly at Glynda's praise. "W-Well thank you! You look beautiful as well!"

Peter Port clomped up, a well-worn but clean suit around him. "Ah, Ruby my dear girl! It is so good to see you at such an auspicious occasion! If you will excuse me though, I must find my colleague before he finds the coffee once more!" Letting out a loud belly laugh, he marched past Ruby into the mansion, leaving her giggling slightly as Ozpin came up to her, shaking her hand as well.

"Of course we made it…it would be rude of me not to appear, seeing as I am officiating." Ozpin's smile just barely missed being a smirk, Glynda rolling her eyes beside him.

Ruby just giggled again, before gesturing past her to the door. "Well, come on in, Weiss has rooms set aside for you to rest in till its time! We have everything under control!" Ruby stood proudly as the two teachers shared a secretive smile, nodding respectfully to Ruby as they passed her to enter the house. A quick electrical twinge on the thin bracelet on her wrist made her expression change instantly, eyes going hard as she stared down the long driveway to see one more car arriving. Quickly dusting her dress off, she stood tall and straight as she stared down the vehicle arriving.

A tall, blue haired man slid out of the driver's side, before turning about to open the door behind his. The red-haired bull faunus slowly slid out, blinking in the bright sunlight as Azure carefully closed both doors, walking beside Adam, poised.

"Hey Ruby. Brought him as you requested. Cuffs are on and working." Azure said, his soft smile seeming strained at Ruby as he patted her on the shoulder. Ruby covered Azure's hand with her own, smiling at him for a brief moment before returning to stare at Adam.

"Glad you're here, Azure. But you should get back to your family. They are still coming, right?"

Azure nodded. "Yeah, trying to get the rugrats into fitting clothing is apparently quite the chore, and Onyx is being her normal self, but we'll be here on time, don't worry. You sure you don't want me to stick around, just in case?"

Ruby shook her head slowly, refusing to let her eyes leave Adam's. "No. We'll be fine. I'll see you in a couple hours." Understanding Ruby's tacit dismissal, Azure quickly squeezed her shoulder once more before returning to his car, quickly leaving the driveway. All of the sounds of the preparations left Ruby as she stared down Adam, the taller man not breaking his glance from Ruby's. Ruby took a deep breath, keeping her voice calm and level. "I'm going to start by saying I am actually glad you are here. I know it'll mean so much to Blake. But we're putting a lot of trust in you, an immense amount. We agreed to have you here for Blake, and that's what I'm expecting out of you. I'm not going to threaten you, not today. And after this point, I'm going to treat you like a friend, because that will make Blake happy. I'm just going to ask you to do one thing today. Today is about Blake and Yang. And I'm going to ask you to promise me to keep it that way. That's all I want from you."

Adam kept his eyes steady on Ruby's, leaving his voice at the same calm level Ruby's was. "I give you my word, that's all I'm here to do as well. I won't cause any problems. And I will not fight whenever you decide to send me back. This is your home, this is Blake's home, you're her family. I'm only here to make this better for Blake."

Ruby nodded sharply, before turning around and yelling out her wife's name, Adam wincing slightly as the volume hit his sensitive ears. The clicking of heels on marble announced Weiss' arrival, as she daintily stepped out, not even a hitch in her stride as her proud expression met Adam's. Extending her hand daintily, she shook Adam's casually, but the cold stare she gave him did not relent. Quickly kissing Ruby on the cheek, she gestured for Adam to follow her, striding back into the building and quickly leading him up the staircase towards the west wing, where Blake's room was. As the two left the hustle and bustle of the main hall and walked down the warmly lit hallway, Weiss stopped dead in her tracks. Spinning around, she glared up into Adam's face, holding her finger up in warning.

"Listen here, Adam Taurus. My wife is too nice to threaten you, and Yang wanted to be on your good side to ask you permission. Everyone else here has agreed to keep their mouths shut. But I'm a Schnee. I know you must hate me, and considering my father's actions, I can't say I blame you. I'm not my father though." Adam opened his mouth to interrupt, but Weiss' wagging finger in his face made him close his mouth again. "And though I love faunus as much as I love humans, I _hate_ you. You helped kill so many people in a misguided attempt to try to help your people. I was an utter bitch when I was younger, and maybe I still am, but I never did that. And yes, I mistakenly hated all faunus for the actions of the White Fang, until Blake taught me better." Weiss took a deep breath, steeling herself before continuing. "But today is for Blake and Yang. For my _true_ family. I won't have it ruined by anything… _anything_ , got that? Today, you are a guest, and thusly I will treat you as one and you will act as one. Understood, Adam Taurus?"

Adam blinked for a moment, before nodding silently. Weiss flipped her hair as she spun on her heel and began striding down the hall once more, leading the way. They walked for a few more moments in silence, before Adam's quiet voice rang out. "I don't hate you."

Weiss froze, turning slowly to stare back at Adam, disbelief evident in her voice. "What?"

"I said I don't hate you."

"I'm a Schnee."

"You just said you're not your father. Blake told me many a time you're not your father. Think what you like of me, but I trust Blake. If Blake says you can be trusted, if she says you're an ally, I believe her. Besides, I won't judge you based on your father. That's no better than me being judged for my horns. We still get the news in prison. I see all the conferences, the charities you spearhead, the adamant refusal to bow down to your own board of directors. No, Weiss Schnee, I don't hate you. And I don't think you're hatred of me is unwarranted. I was wrong. I've said it to Blake, I've said it to others, but admitting it doesn't justify what I did. I'm not going to try to justify it, because it can't be justified. I'm here for Blake. That's the only reason I'm here."

Weiss stared directly at Adam, her eyes seeking, blinking once before spinning back around, continuing her walk in silence. Adam followed quietly, arms crossed behind his back, as they approached the door at the end of the hall. Weiss gestured for him to wait back, before knocking softly. As the door cracked open, she held a whispered conversation with Coco, the two glancing back at Adam a couple times before the door closed again briefly. Coco and Velvet exited, the former giving Adam a piercing gaze as she walked past, before his attention turned back to Weiss. She gestured for him to enter the room, holding the door open for him. As he came close, she grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't upset her. You are free to leave the room when you want, but ask a maid or butler to accompany you. And no, that's not because it's you, it's because this house is a maze. I don't know what my grandfather was thinking when he built it."

Adam nodded to Weiss, who released his sleeve, carefully closing the door behind him as he walked into the room. Blake, who had been casually reading a book, her right leg crossed over her left, glanced up. Dropping her book in surprise, her eyes widened almost comically as a choking sound came from her throat, leaping to her feet. Gulping, she sought his eyes, locking with them as she stuttered. "A-Adam? How…how are you…why…what's going on?"

Adam calmly took a seat across from Blake, smiling softly at her. "The how is your friend Azure and a pair of Semblance disabling cuffs. The why is your fiancée asked me to. What's going on is your brother is here to walk you down the aisle and give you away to the woman perfect for you." Adam chuckled slightly at Blake's flabbergasted look, before taking pity on her. Reaching across the table and grabbing her hands, he squeezed them for a brief moment. "Yang came to me, and asked my permission to ask you to marry her. Of course, with everyone you told me about her, I couldn't refuse her. Then she asked me if I'd be willing to walk you down the aisle, because she knew what it would mean to you."

Blake gulped, trying to get her breathing under control from the shock. "But…what about Ruby and Weiss? Everyone else?"

Adam shook his head slowly. "Yang cleared it before asking me. Ruby was…somewhat polite. Weiss, not so much. Not that I blame them. I'm assuming she cleared it with all your friends. At least, no one's killed me yet. That's generally a good sign."

Blake stared blankly at Adam for a moment, making him arch and eyebrow at her, concerned. She shook her head quickly to clear it, her hair flying wildly as she did, before squeezing his hand in return. "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting this. But I'm really glad you're here." Her voice began cracking, a single tear falling before she began sobbing.

Adam leapt to the couch she was sitting on, gently drawing her into his arms, shushing her. "Hey, what's this for? What's wrong?"

Blake shook her head again, covering her eyes with her hands. "N-Nothing's wrong. I'm just…I'm so happy you're here. Thank you for coming, thank you so much."

Adam gave a half smile, shrugging slightly. "Your fiancée is the one to thank, not me."

Blake sniffled, wiping at her face again before giving a half-hearted giggle. "Yang really is something. Dust…I didn't have a clue."

Adam looked down calmly at Blake, an indulgent smile making its way across his face. "You know Blake, I'm really proud of you. You did what I couldn't. You made things better for our people. And more than that, you let go of your past. I just want you to know, I am proud to be here to walk you down that aisle, and to give your hand to Yang."

Blake stared at Adam, before smiling brightly, hugging him around the waist. "Still…thanks for coming."

"Always. I'll always be here for you, sis."

* * *

"Ok, is that crazy contraption you three built set?"

Fox nodded exasperatedly. "Yes, Weiss, it's set. I told you it was an hour ago. And yes, we've double and triple checked it. Your wife is the one who came up with it ya know."

"Doesn't mean it works right," Weiss muttered beneath her breath, gulping when a red blur signified the arrival of Ruby at her side, the red-head smiling sweetly at her wife.

"What was that, darling?"

Weiss poked Ruby in the forehead, pushing her back slightly with her finger. "Nothing, dunce. Let's get into position, it's just about time." Looking up, Weiss raised her voice slightly. "Neptune, is everyone seated?"

Neptune sauntered over, hands in the pockets of his tailored suit. "Yeah, me and Sun got everyone in their positions, save Fox here. Fox, you know where your seat is?"

Fox scoffed. "Yes, because your seating chart was so helpful to me." Before anyone could reply, he waved his hand dismissively. "I know I'm next to Yatsu, he told me. You two need to get to the podium though. C'mon Nep, you can show me where I'm at."

Weiss took a deep breath, grabbing her wife's hand for a moment and squeezing tightly. The two shared a smile, before quickly walking down the aisle towards the podium. Splitting up at the stairs, the two went to the opposite sides, taking their places at the top as the maids of honor. Ruby gave a quick wink to Nora, Coco, and Jaune, who unlike the others was dressed in a suit. Blake and Yang hadn't wanted to leave the men out, so they'd decided to have bride's men as well. Although Yang had tried very hard to get the two to wear dresses, Blake had put her foot down. Not that she had anything against them wearing dresses (Jaune had worn one well at the dance many years ago) but she was well aware Jaune's balance issues would probably lead to some extreme issues in a dress and heels. He was bad enough in his normal clothes. Weiss was similarly grinning down the line at Velvet, Pyrrha, and Ren, with Pyrrha returning with a subtle thumbs up. Ozpin smiled down at all of them, standing at attention at the very center, awaiting the arrival of the brides.

The sounds of music began flowing out from just to the side of the podium, Scarlet beginning to play the processional music as soon as he got the signal from the opening of the doors. Standing in the doorway were the two brides, blindfolds across their faces, with their hands carefully held by Tai and Adam to each outer side. Yang's dress was a bright amber, the shimmering fabric glinting in the late afternoon sunset and fairy lights installed around the perimeter. Blake's was a soft lilac color, reaching down to her ankles and perfectly mirroring Yang's eye color.

As soon as they stepped foot on the platform Fox and Sage had spent all morning setting up, Ruby's grin grew wide as she tapped another hidden button on the bracelet on her left wrist. Lines of brilliant light began shooting through the smooth, glasslike structure, crisscrossing and making intricate patterns, changing to react to the music being played. As the four stepped on the platform, bright lights shone where the two brides stepped, leaving a lasting footprint in their wake, illuminating each step they had taken. Muffled gasps sounded from the people in the audience as the lights shot through the ground below, the two brides still unaware with the blindfolds on.

When the brides reached the podium, all the lights besides the footprints left behind them dimmed, slowing down and tracing delicate patterns through the floor. Taiyang and Adam carefully turned the two women towards each other, taking their hands and joining them. At a quick glance and nod, the two yanked the blindfolds off, giving their first sight of each other.

Amber eyes locked with lilac, a thousand feelings passing in an instant as the two stared at the beauty before them. Yang's irrepressible grin shone forth as she stared at Blake, taking in the intricate detailing in her dress and how it hugged her form tightly. Blake could barely breathe, trying desperately to comprehend how she was so lucky to be marrying the brilliantly shining Yang. The reminder of everything she'd went through for her, going to see Adam made tears gather at the corner of her eyes, Blake blinking rapidly to keep them back. Yang's grin only grew wider as she winked at her, knowing without words what she was thinking.

Breaking eye contact for a moment, the two scanned the audience, looking out at their friends, but the glowing footprints left in their wake had the two confused. Yang spun about, looking up at Ruby, who gave her a quick wink, before gesturing back to the footprints just in time for Yang to hear loud gasps. Yang spun back once more, rocking back in shock as the footprints burst into columns of light, streaming up into the air.

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw Weiss quickly create a tiny glyph in her hand, it lasting for only a brief moment before it shattered. The streams of light instantly shattered at the same time, exploding into a million tiny winking lights, scattered about in the air around them, floating gently. Blake covered her mouth with one hand, tears falling down her face at the effort her friends had gone through for them. Looking up with watery eyes at Weiss and Ruby, she mouthed a quick 'thank you' to the two of them. Ruby smiled gleefully at her, with Weiss inclining her head in a tiny bow, before nodding towards Ozpin, still waiting patiently for them.

Ozpin took a step forward, holding his hands out before him. "Today, we're here to celebrate two very special people, who have chosen each other as their partner in life and in love for eternity. These two women have endured great hardships to get here, and yet have never flagged or faltered in their love and devotion to each other. I had the unique honor of being there for a short time to see them become the incredible people they are, and I can think of few who can match the passion and joy these two have created together. As they have both chosen to write their own vows, I leave the stage to them. Yang, if you would?"

Yang took both of Blake's hands in her own, letting the words flow from her heart. "Blake, when we first met, I had no idea how important you would become to me. I was just trying to get my sister a friend, and never have I been more thankful my sister is such a social spaz than now." Yang ignored Ruby's good natured swat on her shoulder as the crowd tittered slightly. "When we became a team, I had no idea what we would become, and I don't regret a single moment. I got to see my sister grow up, to make amazing friends, but most of all, I got you. I could never express how much you mean to me, but I promise to spend the rest of my life showing you, every second of every day. I'll bring you as much tuna as you want, bring you every one of those bad ninja-love novels you love so much, keep you warm and safe. Together with you, forever, I know my life is complete."

Blake gulped slightly, blinking back tears once again as she sobbed once. Opening her mouth, her voice cracking, Blake spoke softly. "Yang, you are loud, rambunctious, have an awful sense of humor, and are more stubborn than Weiss." Another chuckle ran through the crowd as Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, a pout on her face. "And truth is, I wouldn't want you any other way. You're the light that chases the shadows away, my sun dragon, my fiery partner and beloved. I can't imagine living life without you, and now I never will have to. I've never loved anyone as I have loved you. When I saw you in the Emerald Forest, saw the way you moved, the way you fought, the way you lived your life…I could see you drew every last ounce of joy out of life possible. You are truly alive…and you bring me to life. I promise to spar with you, to keep you company on workouts, to keep you far away from the kitchen when people are trying to cook." The quietly emphatic agreements from Jaune and Ren made all of them smirk, as Yang pasted a fake affronted look on her face. "I promise to watch your back, to love you forever, and to laugh at your jokes if you ever make a good one."

At that, Yang lost it, bursting into laughter as the rest of the group began to laugh as well, the merry sounds echoing out into the night. Blake smiled through her tears at Yang, keeping a hold on her hands as Yang straightened herself up, still giggling slightly. A grinning Ozpin stepped forward once more, voice questioning. "The rings?"

Ruby appeared next to Yang, handing her older sister the ring, as Weiss did the same for Blake. The two stepped back into their positions as Yang took Blake's hand and slid the ring on, allowing Blake to return the favor a moment later. With a nod, Ozpin raised his voice to address the whole audience.

"Then, by the power invested in me by these two lovely ladies, I now pronounce you-"

" _Wait!"_ Nora's voice called out from the side. Everyone turned to look at her, her eyes wide. "Aren't you supposed to ask if there are objections or something?"

Ozpin arched an eyebrow at her. "Almost everyone here was my student at one point or another. I know better. Now, if there are no more interruptions, and there had best not be…" Nora chuckled sheepishly to herself, glancing away from them all. "I now pronounce you wife and wife. I'd say you may kiss the bride, but I doubt you need my permission for that."

Blake found herself yanked forward, eyes closing instantly as she fell into the blazing heat that was her _wife._ Tangling her hands in Yang's hair, she tried desperately to express everything she was feeling through her lips, every feeling passing through her in an instant, nothing but heat and love and _life_. The loud cheers fading away into the simple pleasure of her new wife, her new world.

Yang broke the kiss a moment later, Blake opening her eyes sleepily to gaze into Yang's lavender ones. Before any words could be spoken, the two of them were nearly knocked over by an enthusiastic Ruby wrapping them up into her arms, hugging them tightly and squealing in joy. Yang laughed joyously, hugging her sister back as Blake found herself drawn into a gentle hug from Weiss. Weiss, with watery eyes, kissed Blake on the cheek as she backed off, smiling gently at her.

Even with all the hugs and congratulations, Yang and Blake would not let go of each other, never letting their grip on each other's hands go as they laughed merrily into the night.

* * *

Sitting by each other at the large trestle table, Yang and Blake kept their hands locked, eating and drinking one handed so they never had to let go. Surrounded by family and friends, they couldn't keep their smiles off their face, everything just feelings brighter and warmer together. A sudden clinking of Ruby's glass sounded as she stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"So, lots of weddings have a 'best man's speech' sort of thing. Well, obviously, I'm not the best man, but I am definitely the best sister for Yang, and that's better anyways." The crowd chuckled with that as Ruby took another sip of her drink, glancing down at her sister and winking. "Anyways, couple of things I wanna do first. First, everyone please give Ren and Jaune a round of applause for this amazing food we have, they did a hell of a job." Jaune flushed from the resounding applause, as Ren merely looked down at his plate, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "Got a bunch of thanks to go through actually, so we might be here a minute."

Ruby proceeded to go through all the people who had made efforts to put the wedding together, calling out Scarlet, Neptune, Sun, Fox, Sage, herself (which led to some chuckles as she parodied receiving an award), Ozpin, and Weiss for hosting. Finally, she turned down the table to Blake's left slightly, her tone serious. "And one final thanks to Adam, for coming to walk Blake down the aisle." The applause that followed was just as vigorous as the rest, making the bull faunus flush slightly as he tried to appear unaffected by the warm welcome he had received so far.

"So yeah, that's done. Next is the most important part…where I embarrass the hell out of my big sisters now!" Ruby's voice dropped to a stage whisper as she leaned over and spoke out of the side of her mouth. "Don't worry Blake, I won't tell them about the time Beacon cafeteria ran out of tuna and how you spent hours dashing through Vale stocking up on tuna so it wouldn't happen again." Blake blushed brightly, grabbing up a napkin, wadding it up, and throwing it at Ruby who ducked it, giggling. "But let's be honest here, Blake was really a model student. Except for the fact she was clearly the most perverted of us all, what with those kinky ninja books she read. Don't tell Weiss or Yang, but when no one was looking I read them all too. And here I thought _I_ was the perverted one of the group."

Yang gently shoved her sister's side as Blake and Weiss stared wide-eyed at Ruby, the reaper shrugging sheepishly. "But I got way more stories about Yang…like the first time she found her semblance and set the house on fire. Dad wasn't sure whether to ground her or hug her. I think he did both. Oh, and we can't forget the time Yang tried to make me spaghetti, but she didn't know how the stove worked, so she just had me hit her with a frying pan and put the pot in her lap. Funny part is, it worked. Turned out pretty good too."

Ruby continued to regale the audience with stories that made Yang and Blake blush or laugh along, and at one point got Yang playfully slapped by Blake when Ruby started talking about some of Yang's past relationships. Eventually however, she wound down, her own chuckles quieting as she glanced down at the two of them with a warm smile.

"Yang's my big sister, and took care of me like mom did before she died. I used to be so worried she'd never get to be her own person, never get to find her own life. But Blake, that's what you did. You gave my sister a life. I'll love you forever, just for that, and because you make my sister smile every day. Today, team RWBY is forever a family, forever together. And I am certain, and I know Dad agrees with me on this…Summer Rose would have loved you too. So, let me welcome you to the family. Family and friends, a toast, to Yang and Blake!"

A quick agreement, clinking of glasses, and drinks all around as everyone toasted the new couple. Ruby set her glass down, before gesturing towards the dance floor. "And now, let's let these two give us the first dance of the evening!"

* * *

Yang and Blake swayed together, the exhaustion of the day slowly creeping up on them as they cuddled close, the dancing having slowed down over the past couple hours. Blake's eyes were closed, her head tucked beneath Yang's chin as the brawler held Blake gently, laying her head on top of Blake's. Blake sighed deeply, more at peace than she could ever remember being. Keeping her eyes closed, she spoke up. "Hey, Yang?"

"Yeah kitten?"

"I love you."

Yang was pretty sure her face would be extremely sore the next day from all the wide grins she'd done all day, but something about the way Blake had said it this time made her smile wider than she ever remembered smiling. Squeezing Blake tightly against her, she nuzzled the top of Blake's head, taking a deep breath through her nose, smelling the subtle aroma of Blake's shampoo. "I love you too, wife." Yang could feel Blake's happy shudder, before the faunus lifted her head up to gaze up at Yang.

Blake gave Yang a quick peck on the lips, before gesturing her head towards the entrance, leading out into the cool night. where a car awaited to take them on their honeymoon. "Ready to go?"

Yang smiled down at Blake. "If it's where you're going, I'm always ready." Taking Blake's hand, Yang and Blake slowly walked out the door, together.


	9. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is neither fluffy nor funny I think. I'm not actually sure what to tag it as, as I wouldn't call it angst either. In the end, this chapter is very Ruby-centric. Mostly, its something I feel I left a tiny bit unresolved in Face to Face, and decided this was a good moment to deal with it.
> 
> Note-For those curious about the memorial, it does bear a resemblance to the Vietnam War Memorial in my mind, albeit with some differences.
> 
> Disclaimer-I don't own RWBY.

The entirety of Beacon Academy was outside, eagerly awaiting today's arrival. Shortly after teams RWBY and JNPR graduated, Ozpin came up with the idea of having guest speakers a few times a year, of graduated hunters. And of course, his first choice was always the most famous of current hunter teams, RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, and CFVY. However, due to conflicting schedules, seldom could he get more than one or two to appear a time. Today, he had only managed one, but it was her first appearance as a speaker, and perhaps the most highly anticipated yet.

Every member of team RWBY had appeared at least once, save the elusive Ruby Rose, always off on another hunt, another adventure. Today however, she had managed to find time, and was going to arrive. The professor's hadn't bothered trying to keep the students from flocking outside in droves, well aware of the palpable feeling of excitement. Ruby was not just a hero to most of Remnant; she was a role model for each and every student currently in the academy. She was everything they aspired to be, and so they spent the entire morning excitedly whispering, recounting the exploits each and every one of them knew by heart, but still listened with the excitement and joy of a small child hearing their favorite bedtime story.

* * *

The roar of the Bullhead's engines were muffled by the dark red motorcycle helmet Ruby wore, obscuring her face. Though the pilot had tried to talk her out of it more than once, she was more than determined to put on a good show. Though it had taken her a long time, and though she still thought it wrong, she understood and accepted people viewed her as some sort of hero. And with all the times her team had come back and told her how much the students asked about her, she had decided to live up to the larger than life image they had of her…plus, the bike was _really_ cool.

It had taken her the better part of a month to build her, relying on Yang's knowledge of motorcycles, a multitude of books, lots of pouting in Weiss' general direction to convince her wife to let her build the thing in the first place, some help from Scarlet for the paint job, and work with Azure to weave durability glyphs into it so she could do exactly what she was planning on doing today.

Her newest toy was a beautiful piece of engineering, at least in her mind. Ever since Yang had let her take Bumblebee out for a spin, she had wanted one of her own. Cars were nice, but you couldn't feel the wind whip past you, couldn't feel the power resting between your legs, couldn't feel the push of the air against you as you slammed down on the accelerator. What she loved most though, was the lovely job Scarlet had done on the paint. The red-haired young man was talented with painting, and had taken the time to paint everyone on team RWBY's symbols on the fuselage. The majority of the motorcycle was white, with red accents, leaving no doubt as to whom it belonged to.

Her contemplation was interrupted by a shout from the pilot, giving her the two minute warning. Her back to him, facing the back of the Bullhead, she merely lifted up a hand up and gave him a thumbs up. The red warning lights started spiraling as the pilot hit the button to lower the back ramp, the rush of air blasting back at Ruby. Her omnipresent cloak snapped back behind her, fluttering in the wind. Smiling beneath the helmet, she waited impatiently, leaning down over the handle bars as she revved the engine slightly. She heard the pilot begin the countdown, counting each second off in her head with him. As soon as he said 'one', she was off.

Gunning it as fast as she could, Ruby skidded out of the bay of the Bullhead, smiling beneath her helmet at the sheer power bursting from beneath her legs. Though it took her merely a second to cross to the edge of the ramp, it felt like an eternity until she flew out into the open sky, the bright sun shining down on her. The Bullhead quickly flew off behind her, but all she could feel was the open air around her. Laughing happily beneath her helmet, she took her hands off the handlebars and spread them out as though to grasp the sky itself in her arms.

As she felt the force of gravity catching up to her once more, she angled herself backwards, bringing the front wheel up slightly. Looking down as the ground rapidly approached, she couldn't help but grin at the excited waves and shouts coming up from the students below, not that she could hear them over the air rushing past. Waving energetically to them, she quickly began channeling her Aura into the bike, making the symbols all over glow. The durability glyphs had been hidden directly beneath the symbols, providing an excellent visual as the bike glowed a brilliant white. Bracing herself, Ruby gripped the handlebars tightly as she neared the pavement.

The back wheel hit first, the force sending her and the bike bouncing back up for a moment as her Aura flared as it absorbed the impact. Hitting down a second time, she wasted no time bringing the front wheel down, letting the momentum add to the speed as she sped across the lot before the school. Deciding to show off a little, she spun in a tight circle, burning out a massive circle across the lot, the tires squealing in protest as smoke rose up from them. Skidding to a stop before the packed students, she slammed the kickstand down, pulling her helmet off as she rose off the bike, shaking her head slightly to move her hair out of her eyes.

This close, the loud cheers and laughs that had previously been muffled by her helmet hit her full force, making her head snap back slightly in shock as she placed her helmet on the back of the bike. Turning to face the gathered students, she held her hands out wide as she smiled brightly at them.

"Hellooooo hunters of Beacon!" Ruby shouted, winking quickly at an unamused Glynda, the older woman rolling her eyes with arms crossed over her chest. A quick wave of her crop and the skid marks Ruby had left behind dissipated, quiet grumbles from the student's behind her sounding as they apparently disapproved of the removal of her marks that signified her arrival. Ozpin stepped forward, taking Ruby's hand and shaking it, before leaning down to speak to her as the other teachers shooed their students back into the school. Ruby wasn't set to speak until later that day, so they had to go to classes until the assembly began. One young man, with dark green hair and eyes, kept his view on Ruby as he was ushered back into the building, refusing to look away until the doors blocked his view entirely.

* * *

Stepping up to the microphone in the front assembly hall, Ruby took a moment to think about the last time she'd been in this room. Seeing the massive mural still decorating the hall above the doorway dedicated to her and her friends, how excited and flabbergasted she had been, and how incredibly honored she had felt. And now, she stood before a gathering of hunters in training just like she was all those years ago. Looking down over their faces, she couldn't help but smile. Coughing slightly, she glanced over at Ozpin and Glynda and grinned, before turning back to the microphone, letting her face fall into a more serious expression.

"So, this is the first chance since I graduated I've had to come and speak to you guys, but I'm glad I got this chance. I hear from your professors you were all very excited to see me, because some of you think I'm a hero, right?" The deafening roar of applause and agreements made her blink slightly, before she let a small, comforting smile cross her face. "Well, I'm here to tell you, I'm not anymore a hero than any of you. You all picked this path, this career, just like I did. You all came to this school knowing that you could, at any time, lose your life to monsters in the dark, and you did it willingly. You guys are a good part of why I can go out into the wilds at any time, and fight for my life, because I know you will be there to take my place if I fall. Because I know I can rely on you to pick up where I left off. Because each and every one of you is a hero, just as much as me. Just as much as Yang, as Blake, as Weiss. As teams JNPR, CFVY, SSSN. You're all heroes."

Ruby took a moment to take a deep breath, appreciating how the entire hall had gone dead silent. "I got into this job because my mom and my dad did it, and because I had a romanticized idea of what it means to be a huntress. I was wrong about what it was, but I will never regret my choice. Wanna know why?" Silent nods and murmured assents followed in her question, the student's hanging on her every word.

"Because what we do _helps_ people. It helps people who may not give a damn about us, but we don't care. We're the light in the darkness, we chase away the shadow, we fight to give other people a chance to live and breathe and love. We give of ourselves, so others can be themselves. Don't forget that what you're doing is _right_. Times will come when you're hurt, when the people you have bonded with in your time here get hurt. And maybe, just maybe you'll be forced to do things you never would wish to have to do. But you can't forget, you have the right to grieve, to feel, to hurt. It's ok to feel. Just always remember to keep your focus sharp. We need you. Remnant needs every single one of you, and maybe we'll never fully destroy the Grimm, but that doesn't mean we'll stop fighting. Faunus and Human's never give up. We never let the darkness take away our light. We are hunters, and no monster will ever extinguish our light." Ruby let her voice trail off, the silence seeping in for a moment as the student's kept their eyes locked on her, before a cheer rose up from them, applause and whistles sounding. Ruby flushed slightly, before holding her hand up to try to calm them. Slowly, the volume dropped away as people quieted down, waiting for her next thing to say. "So, anyone have questions for me?"

Instantly, voices shouted out, making a deafening cacophony again. Ruby rolled her eyes, but one younger girl, clearly a first year, shoved her way to the front, eyes wide and shimmering as she clasped her hands before her. "C-Can we see Crescent Rose?!" she asked, nearly shrieking in her excitement. Murmurs agreed with her as Ruby chuckled to herself.

Flinging her cape out dramatically with one hand, she gripped her weapon before flipping it out, letting it extend to its full range and spinning it once. Though she was not as physically strong as Yang, Yatsuhashi, or Pyrrha, Ruby's ability to wield her massive, heavy scythe had only improved exponentially over the years. In her hands, Crescent Rose looked like it weighed nothing as she gracefully twirled it, letting her cloak flare behind her, looking for all the world like she was dancing with the weapon. Wordless gasps and excited tittering came from the crowd as she dashed back and forth across the stage, leaping overhead of the students and rebounding off the walls, using her semblance to speed around the room in a cyclone of rose petals. Flipping off the wall once more, she landed back on the stage, resting Crescent Rose over her shoulders as she grinned down at the gathered students, not even remotely tired from the demonstration. "That good enough?"

The young girl who had asked nodded rapidly, looking like she was barely holding in a squeal of joy. Ruby smirked slightly, before looking back over the rest of the audience and gesturing to another person to ask their question. As she smiled and laughed, answering as many questions as she could, one pair of eyes kept locked on her, nervously fiddling with his hands as he kept quiet.

* * *

The roar of the motorcycle faded into idle noise as Ruby let the kickstand down, turning it off and slinging her leg over it to dismount. As late as it was, Ruby was reminded of that day nearly eight years ago, when Azure had brought her out to the courtyard before the CCT. In all that time, Ruby had not once come back, not once come to see how different it was. Parking the bike outside the ring of buildings that surrounded the courtyard, she slowly slipped through one of the alleys, the shattered moon in the cloudless sky the only light, leaving everything ephemeral. Ruby took a deep breath, before striding out of the alleyway, getting her first view of the area in eight years.

A massive stone wall, made up of interconnecting tablets, stretched from one end of the courtyard to the other, bisecting the circular area perfectly. Ruby remembered the comment Azure made about how it would be built in the path she had cleared long ago in her unthinking rage. Apparently, they had kept to that. Etched onto the wall were rows and rows and rows of names, situated directly below pictures (if they could find them), dust enhanced to be able to survive any weather that came upon it. Every person who lost their lives during the attack. Ruby ignored the small weatherproof terminal at the end of the wall, designed to guide people towards a specific person if they entered a name. Ruby had done her homework beforehand however, and knew exactly where she was going, continuing her steady walk towards the third statue on the east side.

Eight statues were placed, four on each side of the wall equidistant from each other. Massive metal works, standing many meters high, each intricately detailed to resemble a member of teams RWBY or JNPR. They stood with their backs to the wall, weapons drawn, depicted in a pose as though they were guarding over the wall behind them, standing a silent, eternal vigil over them. Ruby glanced up at her statue, her scythe swept up behind her as though she were preparing to bring it across, cleaving through whatever stood in her path. Even her cloak had been detailed, each patch and small tear she had way back when seamlessly integrated into the statue.

Ruby tore her eyes from the looming statue above her, looking beyond it towards the smooth marble of the wall. Stepping up to it, squinting in the low light, she carefully found the third column of names on the tablet before her. Running her finger along it, she carefully traced down from the top until she reached the central picture and name. Ariel, no last name. Just a first name and a small, grainy picture of a smiling little girl, her front tooth missing and leaving a gap in her wide grin. Briefly, Ruby wondered if they had designed it intentionally, placing her statue directly in front of the one she had failed to save.

Closing her eyes, Ruby let her mind wander back to that day…the gunfire, the smoke, the thick stench of oil and grease and blood. The pain, how she was struggling to breathe after her fight with Penny, how the fingers on her right hand were still broken at the time. Her Aura had been slowly healing them, but still, it was not quick. Everything in her had ached, she was terrified, with no idea what to do, when she had heard the scream.

That scream, the one sound that never had left her, the single desperate cry for help from Ariel. Ruby had tried, oh she had tried, but etched into her mind forever would be those lifeless, accusing eyes. She had eventually moved on, eventually intellectually understood that she had done everything she could have at the time. But that doesn't mean the guilt disappeared. Reaching into the inner breast pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a small, rumpled piece of paper, hundreds of creases visible across it. Unfolding the paper, she read once more the lines that she had taken to heart, that she used to help move on, as she stood before the memorial to the one she couldn't help.

A tiny sound from behind her had her instincts sharpening instantly, well-honed combat reflexes triggering as she spun about, Crescent Rose deployed before she had even finished spinning. With some tiny trace of amusement, Ruby realized she had taken the same post her statue directly ahead of her was in, as she gazed outward into the moonlit night, searching for the sound. _There!_ A figure began walking from the shadows towards her, hands up in the air. Stepping out of the shadows came a young man with dark green hair and green eyes, his hair falling in a shaggy mane as he approached slowly. Ruby cocked her head at him, reverting Crescent Rose as she straightened up. "I saw you at the assembly. You're a student at Beacon, aren't you? What are you doing out so late?"

The young man gulped, clearly nervous as he pulled at his collar. Shuffling his feet, he sheepishly glanced at the ground for a moment before looking up, catching sight of the paper in Ruby's hands. A slightly choked breath came from him, his jaw wide, before he shook his head determinedly. "Umm…I see you still have my letter."

Ruby glanced at the paper in her hand, her eyes flicking back up towards the young man's eyes, returning once more to the paper in her hand. Her eyes went wide in revelation. " _Jasper?_ Were you following me?"

He quickly shook his head no. "No, no, I was coming here to see my family. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope you were going to come here too. I wanted to talk to you at the school, but you were kind of busy."

"Your family?"

Jasper gestured to the wall behind her, at the image of Ariel. "Yeah. All the kids from the orphanage who didn't make it are on this tablet." Taking a couple steps forward, he pointed at a picture just above and to the right of Ariel. "See, this is Oran. He was the oldest of us. He loved to read for all the little ones, used to spend all afternoon after school reading out loud and helping whoever needed it with their homework." Stepping to the side, he placed his hand on another picture just below Oran's. "And this is Lily. She loved to knit all the time. The scarf I'm wearing? Yeah, she knitted that for me one winter when I got a cold. Everyone had something from her. She was just barely younger than Oran, and they _totally_ liked each other, even Ariel could see it, but they were far too embarrassed to say anything. Oh, and here's-"

Ruby stood still at Jasper's side as he continued to name off each and every person at the orphanage, from the other kids to the volunteers who spent their time running it. He painted a picture of a surprisingly happy place, where everyone pitched in to help everyone else, where they were all one big family, loving and caring for each other. Ruby kept her hands in her pockets, clenched tightly around the letter she had been holding, as she listened to every word he spoke, letting him take her through the life he'd lived eight years ago.

It took Ruby a few moments to realize he'd stopped speaking, his voice trailing off as he stood calmly by the stone, his hands now nonchalantly in his pockets. Ruby turned her head slightly to the side to look directly at him as he took a deep breath, turning to face her completely. "I wanted to talk to you for a reason. I know you got my letter, Mr. Silva came to see me a few weeks later and told me about it, and what it did to you. I wanted you to see them, to see my family. Because see, they may not be here anymore, but they are always with me. And what you did? You saved millions of people, made sure they still had a family. I don't know if you still beat yourself up over Ariel, but I want you to know those of us left never once blamed you and we won't. You're the reason I decided to become a huntsman you know? You're my hero, Mrs. Rose. You, your wife, your entire team, and all those people you live with. And it's not just me. Everyone at school loves to see the newest story about you guys. Because each and every one of us strives to be just like you. Professor Ozpin told us before you arrived that you hated being called a hero, and I'm sorry for calling you one, but I'm just telling you how we all feel. You're what we all look up to as a true hunter. So, I'm sorry, but you'll always be my hero, and if I can be tenth the person you are, I'll be happy with what I've accomplished in my life."

Ruby stared at Jasper, eyes wide and seemingly frozen in place. Jasper tilted his head at her, a bit concerned, until he was suddenly yanked forward into a crushing hug, leaving the young man gasping for air. Idly he wondered if this was what was referred to as a 'Yang hug' that Blake had mentioned during her speaking engagement the previous year. When he was pretty sure he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, he was released, Ruby taking him by the shoulders and looking into his eyes directly, smiling through watery silvery orbs. "You know what, Jasper? I think I'm ok with being your hero, but I'd rather be your friend. So, from now on, just call me Ruby, ok? I can't be that much older than you anyways."

Jasper gaped for a moment, before a slow smile spread across his face, him shyly glancing away. "Thanks…Ruby."


	10. Too Much!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geez. Its been so long, I feel terrible really. Life just really caught up to me, and I was also attempting to do more work with my youtube channel, and trying to spend some time with my partner and...yeah. Just lots of stuff happened at once. And to be honest, lots of problems with this chapter. I wanted to write it, but had trouble making it work. Still not sure it does to be fair.
> 
> For the future, I'll be trying to post more on my Tumblr, especially updates as to where my fics may be or when new chapters may come out. So if you follow me, look out for such updates! And feel free to send me ideas for some of these chapters, as while I have plenty, maybe you have a better one! Thanks for being so patient with me guys, and I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer-I don't own RWBY. But oh my god season 3 is shaping up so great!

Weiss glanced down at the news scrolling across her scroll, a small smile lighting up her face as she sat calmly in her office. "Breakthrough: Scientists discover way to fertilize eggs without sperm!" Having heard the news twenty minutes before it hit the papers (considering she was the one who was funding the research), Weiss could only grin as she thought ahead to Ruby's reaction when she found out. Her wife was due home tomorrow, and Weiss thought this the perfect welcome home gift.

The two of them had spoken about children before, and though they had both been unsure at first, they eventually decided they did want them. It would be a struggle, Weiss knew…Ruby couldn't go out on as many missions as she liked, nor would this help Weiss' own scheduling issues, but it was a decision they felt ready for. Besides, they did have an entire house full of people they could trust to help them. Weiss pondered for a moment, before tapping a button on her scroll. A friendly young face popped up of a young man, his brown rounded ears twitching slightly. "Yes Mrs. Schnee?"

"Brun, would you be so kind as to check my schedule tomorrow?"

Brun quickly glanced down, typing swiftly out of Weiss' sight, his eyes scanning across the screen before him. "You appear to have three meetings scheduled Ma'am. At 10AM you have a meeting with Security for the new Dust mine opening south of Mistral. Miss Xiao Long is also listed as an attendee at that meeting. You have a note here saying she is to be inspecting. At 12:30 you have a meeting with Mr. Wren, about a possible second contract. Your final meeting is scheduled for four, a meeting with the Atlesian Senate Housing Committee on a license for building new housing for your workers. Also attending will be Miss Schnee." Weiss nodded at Brun, sitting back in her chair for a moment as she pondered.

"Brun, inform Security Yang will be my stand-in entirely for the meeting at 10. Reschedule my meeting with Sandy, I'll explain it to him later, he'll understand. Winter will take over for me at the Senate meeting. I will be taking tomorrow off, I have much to do."

Brun nodded. "Yes Ma'am. I'll have the updated schedule sent to you within the hour."

Weiss glanced at her clock, blinking slightly as she realized what time it was. "Brun, it's nearly seven. What are you even doing in the office?"

"I still had paperwork to file Ma'am."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Brun, I pay you to work forty hours a week, not eighty. As soon as you finished rescheduling, go home. Leave the paperwork for tomorrow. Remind me to look into getting you an assistant."

Brun blinked at Weiss. "Mrs. Schnee, I am your assistant."

"Yes, and my assistant clearly needs an assistant." Weiss smiled at Brun, giving a tiny chuckle as she said it. "That'll be all Brun. Remember, go home as soon as the schedule is adjusted, that's an order."

Brun nodded calmly. "Yes Ma'am." The screen clicked off, leaving Weiss alone in her office, rolling her eyes once more at her workaholic assistant. Tapping her nails on her desk for a moment, she sighed before standing up. She had to go catch Yang and Winter to tell them about the changes. As she stood, she heard a loud exclamation from Yang, followed by the sound of running feet and calls of Blake's name. Weiss sighed, knowing whatever had excited Yang would take a while to move out of her system. Maybe she should talk to Winter first.

* * *

Ruby stretched her arms above her head as she opened the door to the Schnee Estate, letting out a massive yawn as she did so. It was pretty early in the morning for her, but she had wanted to get home as soon as possible after two weeks in the deserts outside of Vacuo. As soon as the door opened, the rapid clicking of claws on wood sounded as Zwei came barreling around the corner, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he leapt up into Ruby's arms. Laughing, Ruby kissed him on the top of his head, snuggling him close as she buried her nose in his fur.

"Hey Zwei, were you a good boy while I was gone? Huh?" As Zwei panted happily in her arms, a loud, thunderous crash came from the same direction Zwei had come from, before the pounding of footsteps sounded on throughout the house. Sighing with an indulgent smile on her face, Ruby quickly set Zwei down and raised her aura as high as she could, turning just in time to see the massive form of a fully grown Beowulf with an oddly red mask come barreling at her, tongue lolling out in much the same manner as Zwei. It leapt at her, flying through the air with a series of deep, resonant barks as it tackled her straight onto the ground, landing on her stomach and knocking the wind out of her as it began slobbering all over her. Weakly Ruby tried to shove his head back, gasping for air as she tried to control her giggles.

"Drei, when will you learn you aren't a lap dog?" came the amused voice of Weiss, smiling down at the pair as Zwei ran circles around her legs excitedly. Weiss uncrossed her arms as she strolled over, gently shoving Drei to get him to move off Ruby. Drei leapt up and started prancing excitedly around the two with Zwei, giving a quick series of barks at Weiss. Weiss patted him on his mask, before glancing down at her still sprawled out wife. "Are you going to get up?"

Ruby gave Weiss a bright smile, her eyes locked with her wife. "Nope, just gonna lay here and look at my beautiful wife."

A faint trace of pink crossed Weiss' cheeks as she took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the sharp thump in her chest. "Oh, stop it. Come on, there is something I want you to see."

Ruby rolled her head on the floor, her characteristic pout spreading across her face as she whined. "Ugh, right now? It's so eaaaaarrrlllyyyy."

"Oh, fine! Here!" Weiss whipped out her scroll, the headline article already pulled up as she held it over Ruby's face. Ruby tilted her head slightly as she glanced at the scroll, eyes narrowed. Weiss waited impatiently for a moment, before glancing down at Ruby. "Well?"

"It's upside down! I can't read that!"

Weiss' eye twitched. "You dolt, you should have said something before!" She quickly flipped the scroll around so Ruby could read it properly. Weiss watched as Ruby's eyes narrowed again, before comprehension dawned on her face as her eyes went wide. In a blur of motion, she leapt to her feet and yanked Weiss into her arms, slamming Weiss' face into her chest, squeezing her tightly.

" _Yes! Yes, Yes, Yes!_ We've been waiting for this!" Ruby kept squeezing Weiss tightly, ignoring the way her wife was struggling in her arms as Weiss tried to speak, her voice muffled by Ruby's curves. Finally, Ruby released Weiss, the older woman shoving Ruby back as she tried to compose herself.

"Yes, so we have. Let's go."

Ruby blinked at Weiss, confused for a moment. "Wait, you mean right now?" At Weiss' firm nod, Ruby jerked back slightly. "You want to do this now? Shouldn't we like, plan or something?"

"We already did, Ruby. Remember? You slept through half of my presentation until I brought out the strawberries."

Ruby took a moment to glance up, thinking, before her memory seemed to kick in. "Oh yeah, and then we had lots of fun with those strawberries and the whipped cream right after!"

Weiss quickly shushed Ruby. "Quiet! Don't say that so loud! Why am I not surprised that's all you remembered from that?"

"Hmph! I remember the rest too!"

Weiss gave Ruby a disbelieving look. "Really? So tell me, what is our schedule for nightly feedings hmm?" Ruby opened her mouth to reply, one finger pointed up, before slowly lowering it and looking away sheepishly. Weiss smirked. "That's what I thought. Are you ready?" Ruby sighed, before smiling and nodding as she shrugged slightly. Weiss' face fell. "…you still want to do this, right?"

"Of course I do Weiss! But are you sure about this? It's gonna be hard to run the SDC while pregnant…are you sure I shouldn't do it?"

"Ruby, you would go insane if you couldn't get out and hunt every couple of weeks. I spend most of my time in an office anyways, it's simpler for me to do it. Besides, we've had this discussion five times already." Weiss took Ruby's hand in her own, looking deep into silver eyes. "Sweetheart, trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know it'll be painful at times, and I'll probably be a bigger pain than normal, but it's for the best." Ruby kept her eyes locked on Weiss', letting out a big sigh before smiling softly at her wife. Kissing Weiss on the cheek and keeping their hands locked, she handed her bag to Drei. Drei quickly grabbed it up in his front paws and dashed off back to Ruby and Weiss' shared bedroom, Zwei chasing after him excitedly as the red and white pair stepped out the front door.

* * *

The clatter of dishes and the murmur of conversation surrounded the long table set in the massive, well-lit dining room. Rambunctious laughter came from Sun, tail wrapped firmly around Neptune's waist, as Yang did an imitation of a stuck up businessman she had dealt with the week before while Nora listened to her story with wide eyes. Blake handed Yang another buttered roll without looking, holding a book in her other hand as she read intently. Sage was circumspectly tinkering with a small, round device as he kept shooting glances towards Weiss, knowing how stubborn she was about tinkering at the dinner table. Scarlet had a magazine open before him, casually sipping from his wine as Yatsuhashi refilled it for him, holding a quiet conversation with Neptune.

Coco was trying to convince Pyrrha, again, to try modeling in her spare time. Coco remained convinced that Pyrrha should at least _try_ it, with Coco as her manager and clothing director. Pyrrha kept trying to demure as Jaune and Velvet chuckled to themselves at the two bickering women, sharing a secretive glance. Fox nonchalantly kept a camera focused on Coco, adding to his ever growing blackmail album. Ren calmly ate next to Nora, seemingly somewhat absent minded at the time as he was not correcting Nora's wild and outlandish claims she kept interrupting Yang with. Ruby picked at her food, a bit nervous as Weiss sat proudly next to her, keeping her own nerves locked up with her normal stubbornness. Winter, seated on the other side of Weiss, kept shooting glances at her sister, concerned with her slight twitches.

Having already rang Sandy up and informing him of the nightly dinner (which always led to him being needed to repair something), Weiss took a deep breath, standing up from her chair and holding up her glass. Tapping it lightly to get everyone's attention, she waited till the group calmed down (well, as calm as it ever got). Glancing down at Ruby and giving her an arched eyebrow, Ruby stared blankly at her for a moment, before comprehension dawned on her face and she leapt to her feet next to Weiss.

"Ruby and I have an announcement to make. We've been thinking and discussing this for a long time, and well…" Weiss trailed off, shifting nervously for a moment as she took another deep breath. Clearing her throat, she spoke again. "We're having a baby."

Silence. The entire room was silent for a brief moment, until loud cheers erupted out from some of the seated members. Winter leapt to her feet, hugging Weiss tightly as she smiled, as team SSSN began cheering loudly for them. In the midst of the celebration, Yang leapt up, shouting over the din. " _Wait!"_ Everyone froze at Yang's bellow, glancing at the blonde as she gaped, wide-eyed at Weiss.

Ruby cocked her head at Yang, confusion written upon her face. "Yang? Is something the matter?"

Yang threw her hands up in the air. "Yes! Well, not really, but…you're already pregnant?"

"I am, yes. I'm sure you saw the news reports that the research my Health Division had finished-"Weiss' reply was cut off by Yang.

"Yes, we saw it! That's because we went there too!" The entire room blinked at Yang for a moment, letting her statement sink in.

Blake rolled her eyes, setting her book down and standing up beside Yang. "What she's trying to say is, you two aren't the only ones having a baby." Yang patted her abdomen meaningfully as she glanced down, her face slightly flushed as Blake took her hand. Ruby and Weiss gaped for a moment, before Ruby dashed over in a flurry of petals and slammed into Yang, hugging her tightly. Yang laughed, hugging Ruby back.

"I'm gonna be an aunt!" the sisters shouted in unison, Blake face palming beside them.

"You're also going to be mothers."

The two sisters ignored Blake, leading to the dark haired woman to roll her eyes before glancing back down the table at Weiss. Weiss was standing stock still, mouth still gaping. Blake shoved her chair back and was about to walk down the table to Weiss when a slamming sound came from the other side. Everyone glanced down the table to look at Nora, her hands planted firmly on the table as she stood. Ren had his head in his hands as he sighed deeply.

"Hey! You guys don't get to have all the fun! Me and Rennie are part of this too!"

Ren took his head out of his hands long enough to glance up, his expression rueful. "Nora is also pregnant. Although we did not go to the clinic."

Nora winked at the table, chuckling. "We did it the old fashioned way! You know, up in a tree, hanging from it like a pair of sloths and making all the fun-"Ren slapped his hand over Nora's mouth quickly, his pale features stained pink as he avoided looking at anyone else in the room.

"I don't think they need to know the details, Nora." Nora pouted, but made no effort to remove Ren's hand from her mouth as she grumbled incoherently. Weiss' eye began twitching.

Jaune coughed, his face beet red, standing up next to Pyrrha, their hands interlocked tightly.

"Umm…so…Pyrrha and I…uh…"

Fox's amused voice rang out, interrupting Jaune's stammered speech. "I think we get the point. Bun in the oven, right? I guess you can cook in more ways than one." Yatsuhashi and Velvet just groaned, as Coco began cackling at how bright red Pyrrha and Jaune turned. Weiss' fists clenched at her sides.

Sun stood up, announcing loudly "Well, _we_ aren't pregnant!"

"I should hope not, unless you forgot to tell us something Sun!" Coco replied through her chuckles.

Sun grinned irrepressibly as Neptune rolled his eyes. "We did get a pet cat though." Sun said, all eyes snapping to him.

"A pet…cat?" Blake blinked at Sun, letting the incredulousness ooze from her voice.

Sun nodded happily, sticking two fingers in his mouth and giving a piercing whistle, making Blake and Velvet wince slightly. A loud growl came from the door to the pantry, it flinging open to reveal the form of a massive white tiger. It slunk into the room casually, yawning as it grumbled. It glanced around the room at the frozen hunters sleepily, slowly making its way next to Sun. Flopping down on the floor behind his chair, it planted its head on its paws and began snoring instantly. Sun's tail began stroking its ears as he smiled widely. "Her name is Suzie!"

Winter groaned. "You have got be kidding me…" but cut herself off in midsentence when she noticed she no longer had feeling in her fingers. Looking next to her, Winter noted she still had her arms around her sister, an icy chill seeping out from Weiss as her eyes twitched faster. Gulping, Winter relaxed her grip, backing away from Weiss slowly. The room began to quiet down as all eyes turned to the white-haired woman at the end of the table, her frozen form shaking slightly.

Ruby dashed to Weiss' side, leaning over in front of Weiss and looking up at her, hands clasped behind her back. "Weissy? You ok in there?" Weiss closed her eyes briefly, her hands shaking even more firmly as tiny white snowflakes began forming around her. Ruby's eyes widened as she yelped. " _Get down!_ " Ruby dived beneath the table in a flurry of petals as the rest of the group followed suit instantly, knowing better than to ignore Ruby on this. Suzie didn't bother moving from her comfortable spot on the carpet.

Sandy casually strolled into the room at that moment, raising his eyes up from his scroll to wave a greeting, his eyes going huge as a blast of frigid air filled with ice shards came flying his way, exploding outward from the trembling Schnee CEO. His words were swallowed in the storm as he went flying backwards through the double doors leading into the dining room, ice shards smashing into the walls and blasting clean through the table.

Seconds later, the wind faded as Weiss took a deep, calming breath, opening her eyes again as she stopped shaking. Lightly brushing a speck of dust off of her jacket, she sighed contentedly. "I needed that." Raising an eyebrow, she glanced down at the table. "You all can come out now. It's safe." Slowly, the hunters began creeping out of their hiding spots…most beneath the table, but a few coming out from behind cabinets.

Sun dropped from the chandelier, rubbing his hand on the back of his head as he smiled nervously. "I guess Suzie was a bit much, huh?"

Weiss glared at him, before marching over to loom over the still snoring tiger. Sighing heavily, her hands on her hips, she gave it a quick poke with her heel. Suzie opened one eye lazily, rolling her head slightly so she could glimpse Weiss. Suzie quickly lashed out with one paw, knocking Weiss' feet out from under her. As Weiss fell with a startled yelp, Suzie's paw flicked out a second time, wrapping around the white haired woman's waist and dragging her next to the tiger, snuggling into her side and falling asleep again. Weiss' jaw dropped, completely dumbfounded, not even attempting to move as she lay flat on her back, a massive paw stretched over her.

Sandy clambered back into the room, growling under his breath. Brushing flakes of snow and ice off his work uniform, he stomped around the room and glanced down at Weiss, chuckling as he saw the position she was in. Leaning over her, his large form blocking out the light from the chandelier, he smiled widely. "I'm going to consider this karma for knocking me out of the room. You want to tell me what all that was about?"

Ruby flitted over to Sandy's side, grinning widely. "Well, Weiss told everyone she was pregnant, and then Yang was like 'Hey, I'm pregnant too!' and then Nora was all 'Me too!' and Jaune and Pyrrha tried to tell us they were but they were too busy blushing to say it, and then Sun revealed Suzie here and Weiss just kaboomed!"

Sandy blinked as he tried to process the rapid-fire speech Ruby just gave him. Slowly, the pieces began fitting together in his mind. His own eye twitched for a brief moment. "…you mean to tell me, that soon, not only will sixteen hunters and Winter be in this house, not only will you have the super dog, not only will you have a tame _Beowulf_ , not only do you now have a _tiger_ , but you'll also have at _least_ four…children…your children. Children created by all of you. With your genes. A child with Yang's genes. A child with Nora's genes?! _FOUR?!_ " Ruby nodded excitedly, not noticing how Sandy's voice rose with every repetition. Sandy glanced around the room, noting the destruction wreathed by Weiss' tantrum, and sighed.

Leaning down once more and looking the still prone Weiss straight in the eyes, Sandy asked in his most deadpan voice, "You wouldn't happen to know any good psychiatrists, would you?"


	11. Together. Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! I've made a new chapter! Shocker, isn't it? With all the angst of both Season 3 and my current other story, I wanted something fluffy. So, we have this. Ruby and Weiss' 'wedding'. In this case, elopement. Now, I understand some people don't like the idea of eloping, which is fine. Just going to give you the warning here that you probably shouldn't read this then. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy!

Weiss lay awake, the clock next to the bed glaring a bright green 2:38AM as she willed her rapid heart to settle, rolling her eyes when she realized it wasn't listening. Glancing down to her bare chest, she smiled softly at the sleeping Ruby, her head snuggled into Weiss' chest as she slept peacefully. Ruby was exhausted, Weiss' very enthusiastic response to Ruby's proposal had worn the both of them out, but Weiss simply could not sleep. Even as she lay in bed, a thin blanket the only thing preserving Ruby and Weiss' modesty, her mind kept racing.

She couldn't believe it. Ruby was going to be her _wife!_ They were going to be _married!_ Since they had said yes, her entire body had been burning with an inner flame, something she'd never really felt before. It felt like lightning was shooting through her veins. She wondered if this was how Ruby and Yang felt all the time. She could barely contain herself from jumping up and just shouting in glee. On some level, she knew this was nothing like how she'd normally act, but she couldn't help it. The effort Ruby had gone through, to do something so against her normal behavior and that she was uncomfortable with, just to try to give Weiss her dream proposal, it had lit something within her heart. And that something was _not_ patient.

Weiss made up her mind in a snap. She wasn't going to wait. At least, not if Ruby agreed with her. Looking down at the softly breathing Ruby, an occasional tiny snore coming from her as she rested on Weiss' chest, Weiss couldn't help but smile at her. She carefully shifted Ruby off of her, laying her flat on her back on the bed, trying to extricate herself from the tight grip Ruby had locked around her. Ruby gave an adorable whine as she muttered indistinctly in protest to the movement, but it gave Weiss enough room to shift herself so she hovered over Ruby.

Leaning down, her hands planted on either side of Ruby's head, she let her lips ghost across Ruby's as delicately as she could, just a ghost of a touch, but enough pressure that even in her sleeping state Ruby noticed. Weiss giggled to herself as Ruby leaned up, as though chasing her lips, grumbling in her sleep again as Weiss stayed just barely out of range. Weiss repeated the motion, letting another kiss touch gently on Ruby's dry lips, holding it for a moment longer, just long enough for Ruby to begin to react. She pulled back, before ghosting another kiss across Ruby's forehead. She kissed one eyelid, then the other, softly peppering Ruby's faces with delicate touches of her lips.

Weiss paused as Ruby stirred beneath her, a jaw-cracking yawn coming from her as she opened bleary eyes to look up at the hovering Weiss. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared up, her jaw dropping slightly in awe. Weiss paused for a moment, taking aback by the clear surprise in Ruby's sleepy gaze.

"Beautiful," Ruby whispered into the night, Weiss' face immediately lighting up with a blush at the pure honesty in Ruby's tone. She took a deep breath, a signal Ruby seemed to take as a moment to blink repeatedly, her eyes focusing more. She finally seemed to recognize Weiss for who she was. She shook her head slightly, before speaking, her voice slurred from sleep. "Weiss?"

Weiss paused, looking down at Ruby, before lowering herself to kiss her deeply. Breaking the kiss after a few moments, she gazed down into silver pools, soaking in the attention from her fiancée. She cocked her head to the side for a moment in curiosity. "What was with that comment just now?"

Ruby's cheeks went pink as she glanced away from Weiss, looking over towards the wall. "Well, when I wake up to see a gorgeous angel above me, it takes a moment to get used to." She turned back to look at Weiss again. "Why did you wake me? Is something wrong?"

Weiss was frozen in place by Ruby's comment about her being an angel. With that, her mind was made up. She knew what she wanted now, without a shadow of a doubt, she knew that more than anything, she wanted to be Ruby's forever, and she wanted that _right now_. Weiss took a deep breath, closing her eyes as a soft smile crossed her face. She opened them again to look down at Ruby, but before she could comment a pale light flickered into the room. Glancing up, she noticed the clouds break for a moment, the moon's iridescent shine spilling into the room. A single shaft of moonlight bathed her and Ruby in its glow for a moment.

"Ruby…I want to get married," Weiss said, finally tearing her eyes away from how perfect a night it had been.

Ruby cocked her head in confusion at Weiss. "I know? I kinda got that message from the ring thing earlier."

Weiss shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I want to get married _right now_."

Ruby blinked up at Weiss, her mind slowly trying to process. Weiss waited patiently, practically able to see the cogs turning in her head as she thought over what Weiss was saying. Unsurprisingly, Ruby's response was "…huh?"

"Let's go. Somewhere not here. Let's go get married. We'll just grab our bags and go. We'll leave a note or something, but leave our scrolls behind. Just you and me," Weiss said, her voice low and urgent as she spoke. She kept her eyes locked on Ruby's, finally seeing the understanding dawn in them.

"…right now? Just us?" Ruby questioned. Weiss gave a short, simple nod, not bothering to speak, willing to wait for Ruby's response. Ruby let her gaze drift about the room, first falling upon the clock and noting the time. She looked to the window, seeing the scattered clouds slowly traveling across the sky, causing the moonlight to become dappled as it was partially deflected by an ever changing pattern. She glanced down, looking down at her own nude form, with Weiss' hovering over hers, before finally letting her gaze travel back to meet Weiss' calm, patient one. Slowly, a smile spread across her face, the exact look Weiss was waiting for.

Weiss mirrored Ruby's smile, before sliding off of Ruby. She slid out from under the blanket, letting her feet fall to the floor and standing. Ruby sucked in a gasp of air at the sight, Weiss' pale skin and hair practically glowing in the dark, giving her an ethereal glow. Ruby didn't need a powerful imagination to nearly see the wings stretching from Weiss' back, to see that her soon to be wife was _truly_ an angel. Weiss cocked an eyebrow at Ruby.

"Are you coming?" she asked, gesturing at Ruby still laying in the bed.

Ruby chuckled. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. You're too pretty Weiss."

Weiss scoffed at Ruby, vainly ignoring the heat creeping into her cheeks. " _You're_ the pretty one. Now come on, we don't have much time. Get dressed, I need to make some calls."

* * *

"Ok, so…where are we going?" Ruby asked, hugging her arms tightly about herself in the chill. She was standing outside in the middle of the Schnee Estate driveway, the light jacket she'd tossed on not keeping the autumn chill out of the air. She glanced over at Weiss, letting her eyes rove over Weiss' form, clad in a heavy sweater and jeans she had fished out from her drawer.

"Mistral," Weiss replied simply, hands clasped behind her back as she stood patiently.

Ruby blinked. "Mistral?" Weiss nodded, not bothering to respond verbally. "…and how are we getting there?"

Weiss pointed up at the sky, Ruby following the line of her finger, only to rock back in shock. "Weiss? Is that an Atlesian Dreadnaught?"

"Yep."

"How in Dust's name…what the…I…what?" Ruby sputtered, unable to finish a sentence in her confusion. Weiss chuckled, muffling it slightly behind her hand.

"Silly Ruby. You've been with me this long and you still haven't learned? I'm a Schnee. I get what I want."

Ruby gave a deadpan look at Weiss before sighing. "You're not going to start doing that thing again, are you?"

Weiss refused to meet Ruby's eyes, keeping her gaze shifting from the approaching ship to the driveway. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I mean. Just going off and buying anything I show the most remote interest in."

"I'll have you know I did not buy that dreadnaught! I simply asked for a favor. We'll come back by conventional travel, but nothing is running right now."

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow at her fiancée. "And…where will we be staying?"

Weiss scoffed. "In a hotel, of course!"

"Who owns the hotel?"

Weiss froze, biting her lip slightly as she shuffled nervously. "Well, um…it's a company called Red Rose Resorts?"

"And is that company a subsidiary or something like that of another?" Ruby asked, sidling up next to Weiss.

"…maybe."

"And when, pray tell, did this Red Rose Resorts buy the hotel you're talking about, hmm?" The smug tone in Ruby's voice played havoc on Weiss' nerves, her instinctual response wanting her to bring her fiancée down a peg, but she knew she was on the losing end of this little engagement. She squirmed a bit, still refusing eye contact, but before she could reply Ruby asked another question. "Oh, and…when did that company start doing business?"

"Hey! That company has been around for at least six months now!" Weiss rounded on Ruby, a slight glare on her face as she met the smirking visage of her fiancée.

"You mean six months ago when I made that comment about that nice hotel and you decided to buy it?" Ruby's grin had practically consumed her face at this point, enjoying having Weiss on the back foot. Teasing Weiss was one of her favorite things to do, but seldom did she get such a juicy opportunity.

Weiss quickly looked away and spoke in a far too casual voice. "Oh look, the ship's nearly here!" The massive dreadnaught took a position above them, hovering in place, the dull roar of its engines muted by the most recent stealth technology. The air was whipped up by the force of the engines, sending their hair flying around. Weiss' loose hair was now swirling about her, making her glare at nothing in particular in annoyance. Ruby kept her smile well hidden, not wanting Weiss to realize how adorable she looked to Ruby right now. It was those moments when life threw something unexpected at Weiss where her most genuine reactions came about, and Ruby treasured them.

A small metal platform slid down from above, four steel cables suspending it. Weiss reached over and grabbed Ruby's hand, holding it tightly as the two stepped onto the platform.

* * *

"What time is it?" Ruby yawned, her head resting on Weiss' shoulder. She was excited, sure, but long airship rides always made her sleepy. Especially when she'd only gotten a couple of hours of sleep after some very, _very_ strenuous activities.

Weiss tilted her head to the side, resting it atop Ruby's. "It's ten after five. We'll be there in a few minutes. This ship is rather fast, one of the fastest they've built yet."

"How long till we get the hotel?" Ruby asked, already thinking ahead to a nice, warm bed and a chance to sleep again.

"I just told you," Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes.

Ruby's sleepy brain took a moment to process, before she opened her eyes wide. Sitting up, she turned to Weiss and glared suspiciously at her. "How close to the hotel is the airport?"

Weiss's face became plastered with a look of confusion. "I have no idea. What does that have to do with anything?"

"…please tell me we aren't going to get dropped off right at the hotel."

Weiss scoffed. "Of course we are! The officiant is already waiting for us!"

Ruby's eyes widened in alarm. "How in Dust's name do you think we'll get away with flying a military class Atlesian Dreadnaught into the very heard of the Kingdom of Mistral!?"

"Oh please," Weiss scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "I already contacted the council and got permission from them. You worry too much."

"How in Dust's name did you get their permission to fly this…this _thing_ into their city _and_ let people off of it?!" Ruby shot to her feet, flailing her arms around in emphasis.

Weiss arched an eyebrow at Ruby's antics, before replying smugly. "By promising them a new branch of Schnee Dust opening in downtown. You know how big an economy boom that happens whenever I open a new branch. They practically salivated over it."

Ruby blinked at Weiss. "You…you did that, did all this, just so we could get married?"

Weiss' expression stayed smug, but a light pink dusted her cheeks as she nodded, not trusting herself to speak. A slow grin stretched across Ruby's face, and Weiss prepared herself for the incoming tackle hug. She had little time to wait, as Ruby practically teleported into her arms, nearly knocking her into the wall behind the bench she was seated on. She managed to hold onto her balance for a moment, but Ruby's arms latched around her neck and without giving her a moment to breath, Ruby had fused their lips together.

' _Impropriety be damned_ ,' Weiss thought as she wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist, deepening the kiss as she felt herself becoming lost in the feeling of Ruby, her soon to be wife, in her arms. The universe did not see fit to grant them this break however, as a sudden bout of turbulence caused the ship to rock slightly, and with their current unbalanced position on the bench, the two lovers were knocked off it with identical shrieks.

Ruby groaned slightly as she blinked open her eyes, finding herself flat on her back, arms akimbo, with Weiss splayed across her. Weiss lifted herself up slowly, sighing heavily as she glanced over at the sprawled Ruby. Blue met silver, and the tiniest hint of amusement in Ruby's eyes sent Weiss over the edge. She began giggling, hearing Ruby's musical laugh follow after hers. Just a moment where they realized how utterly ridiculous they looked right now, and shared another moment where their hearts were one.

A voice came over the intercom, interrupting their laughing fits, speaking quickly. "We have arrived. Please report to the disembarking elevator."

* * *

"Woah," Ruby said, leaning backwards to look upward at the glass ceiling towering above them as the two stood in the massive atrium of the Grand Royal Hotel, the one Weiss had bought…oh no, the one Red Rose Hotel's bought. Ruby barely managed to choke down a snort at that title, knowing full well where Weiss had gotten it. Lame or not, it still brought a warm fuzzy feeling to her, making her feel so loved at the knowledge Weiss thought of her even when naming some useless company she was using to try to mask her actions from Ruby.

Weiss elbowed Ruby in the side slightly, making her bring her gaze back down to look at Weiss. Weiss tilted her head to the side, reminding Ruby where they stood. Ruby looked forward to see a clearly nervous older gentleman, dressed sloppily in a black suit, with his hair still damp from his clearly rushed shower. Ruby bit back a chuckle at the sight…Weiss, beside her in a simple pair of jeans and sweater. Her, standing in a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt with a stylized Beowulf head across it. The bellboy and the hotel manager, still in their uniforms, dragged over to serve as witnesses. And the officiant, some man whose name had already escaped her, chuckling nervously to himself as he patted himself down to find something or other.

Ruby took one more look over at Weiss, seeing what no one else would see. To others, they'd see the prim and proper CEO of Schnee Dust, standing tall and proud and still somehow giving off an aura of pure professionalism even when dressed as she was. She looked unflappable, but Ruby knew her tells. Ruby watched as Weiss bit her lip lightly, a tiny fidget of her right hand drawing her gaze. Weiss turned to glance at Ruby, and her visage softened as their eyes met.

In that moment, Ruby knew that everything about this was absolutely perfect. She didn't need bells and whistles, she didn't need a ceremony, she didn't need anything but what she had with Weiss right now. It reminded her of their relationship…a mess from the ground up, but such a beautiful mess. The words the officiant began speaking faded into the background for her, the hotel around her, everything, as her mind began drawing out what it really was. To her, this was just the two of them, standing peacefully together, words failing to convey what they would build with each other. In fact…that's all it needed to be.

Ruby reached out and took Weiss' hand in her own, squeezing it softly as Weiss turned a slightly startled gaze over to her. Completely ignoring the man before them, Ruby reached out with her other hand and turned Weiss to face her directly. She turned her gaze to the man, who had begun stuttering at her action, and held up her hand in front of him to get him to pause. As he quieted down, she took both of Weiss' hands in her own and pulled her closer, till they stood barely a foot apart from each other.

"Ruby, wha-?" Weiss tried to say, but Ruby shushed her with a small shake of her head and a soft smile. Leaning forward, Ruby brushed her lips across Weiss', retreating slightly to lock her gaze onto Weiss'.

"We don't need words to say what we both already know," Ruby whispered, her voice carrying across the silent atrium. "The only words that matter right now are I love you, and I do." She leaned forward and placed another soft kiss on Weiss' lips, pulling back slightly to see tears forming in Weiss' eyes.

Weiss smiled, sniffling slightly as a tear trailed down from her left eye, before she nodded. "I love you too, Ruby Rose, and I do." She lifted Ruby's hand up to her lips and kissed the back of her knuckles, repeating on the other hand, as Ruby let out a tiny chuckle.

The man let out a deep breath, before smiling ruefully. Closing his book, he bowed before the two of them before straightening up and speaking authoritatively. "By the power vested in me by the Kingdom of Mistral, I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss-" he didn't even manage to finish his sentence before Weiss lunged forward, capturing Ruby's lips in her own as her hands left Ruby's to find gentle purchase on her face, Ruby wrapping hers around Weiss' waist. He rolled his eyes, his nervousness finally leaving him, and gave an indulgent look. He took one look over at the hotel manager, who tilted her head over to the front door. He nodded, picking up the paperwork and walking quietly around the two tangled women, he headed out to finish filing the paperwork for the marriage at the office.

The bellboy grabbed their bags from where they rested at the two women's feet, scurrying about in an attempt to avoid interrupting them. Not that they noticed, their minds so occupied they failed to see anything but the two of them, standing in the middle of the silent atrium. With a cough, the hotel manager made her presence known again, the two women breaking apart. Weiss had a sheepish grin on her face, as Ruby wrapped her arm around Weiss' waist and beamed at the hotel manager. She rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, before handing Weiss the keycard to her room. She quickly strode off back towards the front desk, as the two of them began heading to the elevator. Ruby looked furtively at Weiss, her hand on Weiss' back slipping beneath her sweater to stroke softly along her lower spine. Weiss suppressed a shudder, her breath ghosting out of her as Ruby leaned up to nip at her ear.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ruby asked, her voice low and sensual. Weiss gulped, before nodding, her cheeks bright red as she hit the button to call the elevator.

* * *

Weiss chuckled to herself quietly as she glanced down at Ruby, the red-head curled up on the bed in nothing but her panties, fast asleep within five minutes of them arriving at the room. Weiss looked down at herself, seeing the set of nearly transparent lingerie she'd just went to the bathroom to put on hugging her petite form tightly, before letting out another fond chuckle. A soft snore came from Ruby's sleeping form as she cuddled deeper into the blankets, letting out a small annoyed noise in her sleep. She started patting the bed around her, grumbling, before her arm shot out and grabbed Weiss' hand in her own.

Weiss' eyes went wide as Ruby yanked her into the bed, immediately rolling her over before the older woman could react and latching onto Weiss' waist. Ruby gave out a sigh of relief in her sleep, snuggling her head into Weiss' neck and sighing happily.

Weiss managed to grasp the edge of the sheets and pull them up over the two of them to block, letting out a sigh at the comfort of the cool, silken sheet over her form. As the adrenaline of the night began to fade from her, she felt her eyes drooping. She closed her eyes with a smile as she began to drift off, holding Ruby tightly as she followed her _wife_ into the land of dreams, together.


End file.
